Fallen From Heaven
by Taoreta-Hoshi
Summary: AU where Ryan Wolfe is not all he seems. Eric Delko finds many strange things start happening involving Ryan after he meets the strange man Ryan calls dad and he becomes determined to find out exactly what the reason behind all this is. Eventual Eric x Ryan slash. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Mystery

Bigger Summary; AU where Ryan Wolfe is not all he seems. Eric Delko finds many strange things start happening involving Ryan after he meets the strange man Ryan calls dad and he becomes determined to find out exactly what the reason behind all this is. Ryan however tries his best to keep Eric in the dark but when their emotions get mixed up in Eric's search it makes it a lot more complicated. Horatio seems to know more than he's letting on. Contains OC!Ryan's Dad and OC!Ryan's Mum.

Will be slash Eric/Ryan so if you don't like slash, don't read. Traces of Horatio/Marisol as well.

So this is a complete AU and it has been a while since I saw Miami except for repeats that are on TV and Season One that I have on DVD so the cases will be mixed up and it doesn't follow any of the seasons chronologically.

My first CSI Miami fanfic. I fell in love with the Eric/Ryan pairing and had to write a fanfic for it and this idea came to me strangely when I was listening to the Prince of Egypt soundtrack. I'm not giving too much away about what Ryan is in this fanfic, you'll have to read to find out xD Rated M for later chapters.

* * *

Something was wrong with Ryan. All his colleagues could see it.

Alexx was probably the first of them all to notice, but that was because she had taken Ryan under her wing like a stray and mothered him a lot, and motherly instincts could usually always be trusted. Horatio had noticed but did not think anything of it, at the end of the day his team were still human and all humans had problems every now and then but when Alexx told him that she had found Ryan asleep inside her autopsy room on the floor next to the table that carried a dead body he became concerned and started watching Ryan carefully. Eric had been the next to notice it when he had found Ryan asleep slumped over in the locker room, clutching a piece of paper tightly in his hand. Eric had been able to catch a glimpse at some very elaborate handwriting on the paper before he had woken Ryan up and asked him what he was doing. Calleigh caught on when Eric told her. Eventually the whole lab knew something was wrong. Ryan did not seem sleepy around the lab but he did keep turning up everywhere asleep.

"Do you think we should talk to him?" Eric asked as he approached Calleigh in the ballistic lab and found her knelt next to Ryan's sleeping form.

"I think we should ask Horatio to talk to him." She replied, smiling as Ryan shifted slightly in his sleep and muttered something unintelligible.

"Did you get a ballistics match?" Eric inquired when Calleigh had stood and turned to the gun that lay on the table.

"I haven't gotten around to our ballistics yet, there is another case that I need to work first. I'll have them soon Eric." Calleigh informed him with another charming smile. Eric smirked as she went back to her gun and he turned his attention to Ryan. Bending down Eric placed his hand on Ryan's shoulder and shook him gently awake.

"Hnnn…Eric?" Ryan murmured as he opened his eyes and blinked the sleep from his eyes, a little disorientated.

Eric was a little taken aback by Ryan's use of his first name but he put it down to the fact he had just woken up and he wasn't thinking straight yet.  
"Hey man you can't sleep in here, we got some evidence for you to process in the other lab." Eric told him firmly, slipping an arm under Ryan's and pulling him to his feet.

All Ryan said in reply was "My ears are hurting."

"That will be my fault," Calleigh called as they moved to the door of her lab, "I was firing a gun."

"You're a really deep sleeper aren't you Wolfe?" Eric asked as he guided Ryan from the room.

"Hmmm, I'm not sure why I'm falling asleep all the time," Ryan sighed, avoiding Eric's eyes as he spoke.

Eric had known Ryan long enough to know that when he was evidently trying to avoid your gaze when you were speaking he was either lying or not giving a full version of the truth. Swallowing down the annoyance he felt because Ryan felt he had to lie to him Eric pushed forward into the lab and pointed Ryan over to the evidence he had just brought back from a crime scene.

"Maybe you should go and see a doctor." He suggested as Ryan slipped latex gloves on and went straight for the evidence.

"Maybe…" He murmured softly, engrossed in the evidence now.

The two of them worked in silence for about an hour until Horatio entered the room and watched pointedly as Ryan watched the machines working to give him some evidence. Ryan glanced up subconsciously because he felt like he was being watched and started when he saw Horatio there. Eric stopped working as well to look at his boss and see what he wanted.

"Mr. Wolfe, can I have a word?" Horatio asked when he saw both CSIs were now paying him attention.

"Sure H." Ryan agreed and left the lab with Horatio, following him up to his office and taking the seat Horatio gestured to.

"Mr. Wolfe it has been brought to my attention that you have been found sleeping in random places in the lab and I think we need to talk about it." Horatio began and Ryan shifted his feet, looking down into his lap nervously.

"H I…I don't know what to say." He stuttered.

"Then just listen to me Mr. Wolfe." Horatio stated firmly, his voice calm. Ryan relaxed a little bit at Horatio's tone, folding his hands in his lap and glancing up to meet Horatio's gaze every now and then.  
"I don't know what the problem is and I will not force you to tell me what it is." He began. Ryan had to fight a grimace, trust Horatio to notice that he was lying when he said that he didn't know what the problem was.  
"But this has to stop. I am giving you a week away from the lab Mr. Wolfe to sort out whatever problems you may be having and when you return I expect this behaviour to stop. In the lab we need to know we can trust each other and with you falling asleep constantly in the most random places we cannot trust you at the moment. This is not up for discussion." Horatio's tone turned from calm to assertive when Ryan opened his mouth to argue with his boss's decision.

"Fine H, I'll see you next week." Ryan said after a moment of silence, standing swiftly and exiting the room. Horatio watched him stalk off with a mixture of pity and worry on his face.

Eric noticed Ryan crossing the lab and heading for the lift and immediately wondered where his colleague was going.

"Hey Wolfe!" He called, running from the lab and catching Ryan before he managed to get in the lift that had just arrived. "Where are you going there is still evidence that needs to processed."

Ryan turned to look at Eric and the Cuban was unsure what emotions he could see in Ryan's hazel-green eyes.

"Horatio gave me some time off to deal with my problems." He stated simply before boarding the lift and jabbing at the buttons. Eric simply stood and watched as the metal doors slid closed and hid Ryan from his view. Although the entire lab had known something was wrong with Ryan they had never spoken to him about it and therefore it hadn't been an official thing, but Horatio had made it official now. Ryan must know that H had only done it because he was worried about him above any other possible reasons? Eric was unsure if Ryan was well enough to even think rationally and that scared him.

_iI have to stop thinking about Wolfe,/i_ Eric told himself firmly,i _there is extra work that needs to be done now he's gone./i _With one last glance at the closed lift doors Eric headed back to the lab to get the results Ryan had been waiting for before Horatio had called him away.

It turned out that Eric was too busy over the next three days to give any thought to Ryan's state. Everyone in the lab was, although they had all noticed his absence and there were whispers about what it meant. It just so happened that the results Ryan had been waiting for had been the break in their case and it had led to a man-hunt for the perpetrator, and he had finally been caught. The first three days of Ryan's week off had been spent collaborating the evidence with the rest of the team and searching for the man before he realised they were on to him.

Horatio gave half the team the fourth day off because of how hard they had been working during that case. Eric decided he was going to use that day to go and check up on Ryan, even though Alexx had told him that Ryan had told her that he didn't want any visitors during this week, they were to leave him alone. He hadn't liked Ryan at all when he had first joined the team, he had still been reeling from Speedle's death and to him Ryan was just a replacement. They had fought a lot and it had affected the team around them but eventually Eric had come to see Ryan as a friend. He wasn't sure if Ryan felt the same but he definitely viewed the younger as a friend.

As Eric got out of his car and headed up to Ryan's flat he heard raised voices coming from inside. Automatically his hands went to his weapon but he forced them back from the gun and waited on the other side of Ryan's door, straining to see if he could hear what was being said.

"This is your entire fault!" Ryan was shouting, "I know you've done something to make me sleepy and I want you to stop it before I get fired!"

Eric stiffened. So Ryan did know what was happening? Or was it perhaps that whoever his visitor was had made him realise exactly what had happened to him? Why would someone want to get Ryan fired from the crime lab?

"Please son-." Another voice, an older voice pleaded.

"NO!" Ryan interrupted loudly, and there was the sound of something shattering, "Stop doing this to me! I like living here! I don't care what you think, or what I am just leave me alone and let me live my life!"

_iWhat's going on?/i_ Eric wondered to himself as he listened to see if anything else would be said. He heard something else being shattered and decided that he should intervene. Taking a breath Eric bunched his hand up and rapped on the door loudly with his knuckles.

Silence followed.

Eventually there was the sound of a chain being drawn back and then the door opened, revealing a rather tired looking Ryan, with red ringed eyes. He looked surprised to see Eric stood there and for a moment neither of them spoke. It wasn't until another man appeared behind Ryan before anyone said a word. The man seemed to be elderly, with white hair and a white beard, but he did not have wrinkles of age upon his face. It was his eyes that really got to Eric though, for they were the same colour as Ryan's but seemed to be a mixture of extreme knowledge from age and youthful innocence. Was this man Ryan's dad? He had called Ryan son but that could also be a friendly pet name.

"Uh I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Eric said quietly, "But I can see you're busy so I'll just-."

"No," Ryan said rather harshly, and then smiled apologetically. "He was just leaving."

"No I wasn't-." The man began to say but Ryan cut him off this time with just a glare. "I will be back Ryan," He stated firmly and seemed for a moment to be about to hug Ryan but thought better of it and left the flat, Ryan stepping backwards so he could slide through the gap that he had opened, and the man shot a curious glance at Eric before heading for the stairs instead of the lift Eric had used.

"Eh, come in Delko." Ryan said after the man had disappeared and he opened the door properly. Eric did so, closing the door softly behind him and the first thing he noticed were two shattered glasses on the floor.  
"Want a drink or anything?" Ryan asked, his voice quiet and a little sheepish.

"No no I'm fine." Eric replied.

Ryan nodded and gestured to the coach. Eric knew what he meant before Ryan spoke so he took a seat. Ryan however, disappeared for a moment before returning with a dustpan and brush. He immediately set about cleaning up the mess made from the two shattered glasses and Eric had to stop himself from laughing at the fact that his friends OCD had kicked in. Honestly, he was surprised that Ryan hadn't cleaned them up as soon as they had been shattered.

Eric felt the silence between them was rather uncomfortable but Ryan either didn't seem to notice or just didn't comment on it.

"So…how are you feeling?" Eric finally asked, glad that Ryan was bent over cleaning up the shards of glass so they didn't have to make eye contact.

"Better. I stopped falling asleep everywhere when I called my…dad." Ryan replied quietly.

"I heard. You um, you said that he is behind you falling asleep everywhere?" Eric pressed.

Ryan stood, the dustpan full of glass and his hair a little askew and shrugged lightly, "He probably slipped something in my drink or my food, he does have a key to my apartment." He suggested, his voice still quiet. Eric wouldn't be surprised if his voice was a little sore, he had no idea how long Ryan had been yelling at his father.

"Why would he do that?" Eric asked.

"My dad didn't agree with my choice to become a police officer, and he was even unhappier when I told him I'd be joining the crime lab." Ryan admitted, emptying the dustpan and shoving it back under the sink with the brush, "He's probably trying to get me fired."

This time it was Ryan who was thankful he was bent down as he talked because he knew that all his colleagues could tell when he was being evasive in his answers. Eric could never know the true reasons why his father would do that, or how, and Ryan had to be careful, Eric had already heard more than he should have. Searching for something else to say Ryan breathed a sigh of relief when Eric's mobile began to ring.

"Hey H," Eric said as he answered it. Ryan was unsure why he was still kneeling on the floor but he stayed there, one hand resting on top of the table top.  
"I'm at Wolfe's house, I wanted to see if he was okay." A pause while Eric waited for his reply. "Yeah he's fine, he said he wasn't falling asleep everywhere anymore." Eric paused again. "A new crime scene? Yeah I can do it….no it's fine H…..take Wolfe?...sure okay." Ryan stood when he heard Eric's phone snapping shut and tried to hide his glee at the fact that Horatio was allowing him to come back to work after only four days.

"Is your crime kit full?" Eric asked as he stood up.

"Yeah, it's in my car." Ryan replied swiftly.

"Well grab it Wolfe and then meet me in the Hummer, we have a crime scene."

Ryan nodded and waited for Eric to leave before him so he could close and lock the door. They made the journey to Eric's Hummer in silence and even when they both climbed in and Eric pulled out of the underground car-park and sped off towards the address that Horatio had given him neither him nor Ryan spoke. This silence was different to the one from in the apartment, Eric did not feel uncomfortable travelling in silence with Ryan, it was an easy silence between them. Eric could tell that Ryan was happy to be allowed back on cases early and it definitely seemed that he was no longer tired, but there was something suspicious about the conversation he had heard between Ryan and his father but Eric couldn't put his finger on it.

"This is the place," He stated after a surprisingly short drive and Ryan was climbing out the car before Eric had completely pulled to a stop outside a rather desolate looking warehouse.

"Is there anyone in there before us?" Ryan inquired as Eric joined him next to the Hummer.

"H didn't say there would be, why?" Eric replied with another question.

"The door is open. And there should be a squad car here at least to keep an eye on the body and those that called it in." Ryan said simply, his hand going for his gun automatically. Eric knew that Ryan was right but he hadn't thought of how strange it was that the crime scene was empty until the younger CSI had brought it up.  
"Call for backup, then take the front. I'll go round the back." Ryan added before he was off. Eric was about to call out for him to wait for backup but the other man was already off, sneaking around the back of the warehouse.

"This is Eric Delko," Eric said hurriedly into the police walky-talky. "I need backup ASAP." He continued before stating the address and that he and Ryan had reported to the scene of a dead body. The conversation was over in about two minutes but as soon as it was over Eric raced to the front of the warehouse and slipped in through the slightly open door. It was dark inside but he could smell the body and he let that guide him towards it, his gun drawn and his eyes peeled for any sort of movement in the dark.

The next thing Eric remembered before he hit the floor was "ERIC!" echoing around the warehouse followed by two gunshots, one close to him, the other from a distance and something heavy barrelling into him before he hit the floor and became rather disorientated. The fact that two gunshots had been fired registered in Eric's head after a few seconds and he was up, gun out in front of him, checking for who had fired the shot. His shirt felt wet against his skin and when he looked down he was covered in blood, blood that definitely wasn't his own because he couldn't feel any pain anywhere in his body. Then he remembered hearing his name being shouted and the fact that someone had knocked him to the floor. Eric turned slightly and saw Ryan on the floor, blood seeping from an evident bullet wound in his chest. Surprisingly Ryan looked rather calm as Eric dropped to the floor beside him.

"I shot him." He murmured, his voice raspy because his throat had gone suddenly dry. Eric immediately stood and looked for the man who had shot Ryan. There was a bullet right between his eyes, evidently Ryan's and Eric was amazed that Ryan had managed to shoot someone so perfectly when he had been shot himself.

"Wolfe you better hold on!" Eric cried as he rushed back over to his friend and fell beside him, using one hand to put pressure on the wound and the other to call 911.  
"I need a paramedic immediately! Officer down!" He yelled down the phone, answering the questions posed by the lady who had answered his call as quickly as possible, pushing his hand probably painfully against Ryan's wound.

Eric wasn't sure as he sat waiting for the ambulance to arrive what distressed him more, the fact that Ryan had gotten himself shot with a bullet that was meant for him or that Ryan did not seem distressed by the fact that he was bleeding everywhere. His eyes were closed but his breathing was even and light despite the fact that the bullet had probably penetrated a lung.

"Eric? Eric!"

Eric jumped as he heard his name being called and turned to find Horatio and some paramedics rushing towards them, while others hurried to the dead suspect. Alexx had arrived with them and though Eric could tell as soon as he caught her eye that she wanted to be with Ryan she headed for the dead body that Eric had abandoned because of Ryan. Calleigh had appeared as well to process the scene. Horatio pulled Eric back from Ryan's body so the paramedics could work on Ryan. It was only now that Ryan showed any sign of panic and Eric found this even stranger than Ryan's calmness at being shot.

"I'm going with him to the hospital." Eric stated firmly as the paramedics loaded Ryan onto a trolley and rolled him out of the back door and around the warehouse to their ambulance. Neither of them argued with him for he wore such a stern, determined expression on his face they were sure no matter what they said he wouldn't listen.

"Eric I think you should process the scene with Calleigh-." Horatio said quietly as Ryan was loaded onto the ambulance.

"H I'm covered in Ryan's blood, I'd probably contaminate the evidence." Eric interrupted quickly.

Horatio smiled softly, "I was going to say after you'd cleaned yourself up, Eric. But you do make a good point, I know you would want to see Mr. Wolfe okay. Go with him." He affirmed and Eric climbed into the ambulance, slamming the door shut and taking a seat next to Ryan's still form.

Ryan was aware that Eric was staring at him and could feel Eric holding his hand but he didn't move. Not because it was painful or because the bullet was still stuck in his body but because he was extremely nervous about what the paramedics would find when they undid his shirt to patch up his wound. Luckily for him it's still bleeding so they might not notice that the wound was starting to heal. He had been so careful up until now but seeing the gun pointed at Eric had driven him to movement before he could even process what this would mean if he was injured. Eric was suspicious of something, he knew it, and this would only make that worse. Ryan willed the wound to open up again and bleed properly as a gunshot should and he felt his skin rip and blood pour forth. It was hard to keep that up for a long time but Ryan did so until he felt himself slipping unconscious.


	2. Tragedy

Summary:

Eric definitely realises something is definitely weird with Ryan when everyone around him seems to be telling him one thing but in his head he's sure of another. Contains story-line from 'No Mans Land.'

Notes:

I was just reading through descriptions of Miami episodes and remembered that the main kind of bad guy in the last season is called Esteban. No connection though, totally slipped my mind xD but Ryan's dad has a name now, it makes it easier to have scenes between them.

Also, I am now in my university exam period and this continues until 28/05 so it is likely I won't be updating until then at least, but when my exams are over I will be updating more regularly. Those of you who know No Mans Land should be secure in the knowledge of Delko's fate.

I hope this doesn't seem a bit too fantastical but it is an AU so I guess I could go there.

* * *

Eric paced the halls of the hospital as Ryan was worked on in surgery. He had seen the confused looks of the doctors before they had rushed him into surgery and he wanted to know what was wrong. It had been three hours. His legs were aching from doing nothing but pacing and Eric's mouth was dry from yelling, although he didn't remember yelling, but he had probably been yelling at Ryan to stay alive. Despite this Eric did not leave the corridor he knew Ryan would be brought down when it was time to assign him a room. He assumed Horatio and Calleigh were still processing the scene since none of them were there but Alexx had called three times already to find out if Ryan had been out of surgery yet.

Eric did not know that Ryan was indeed out of surgery. Ryan had been out of surgery for an hour at least but the doctors were too confused by what had happened during surgery that they had been investigating and it had slipped their minds that someone was waiting to find out Ryan's condition.

Ryan had been moved into his own room, but the doctors had taken him a different way to keep him isolated from the general patients in the hospital, so Eric had not seen him. _Typical, _Ryan had thought has he had been wheeled to his own isolated room while feigning unconsciousness, _they come across something that they don't understand and they fear it._ The doctors believed they had left Ryan alone but they were wrong.

Ryan kept his eyes closed though he knew his father was stood by his bed, watching him with his brow creased in both worry and annoyance. Bandages were wound around his chest and there was a large pad underneath them, pressed against where there should have been a bullet wound. Sighing Ryan cracked one eye open and met his father's disapproving gaze.

"I told you that you were in danger." Was all his father said, crossing his arms and shaking his head as Ryan sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, barely glancing at his arm as the IV drip pulled out and he started bleeding.

"It was an accident. I managed to keep the bullet wound bleeding until I passed out." He pointed out as his father moved over to the bed and sat beside him, checking Ryan's arm as it bled.

"Accident or not you still got injured in front of someone. Ryan you know how dangerous that is! I bet you didn't act like you'd been shot did you? I bet you were calm and composed instead of panicking like someone would if they were shot. Just because you have nothing to fear that does not mean you shouldn't act like a human!" His father snapped as he put pressure on the wound on Ryan's arm.

Ryan jerked his arm away and got to his feet. "It doesn't matter what Eric thinks," He said dismissively, going over to the pile of his clothes on the chair and wincing at how ill-folded they were. He stripped off his hospital gown and tore the bandages from his chest. Slipping on his boxers and pants Ryan examined his chest as his father watched, eyebrows raised in disbelief. There was no mark where the bullet had entered him; no scar would ever be there and Ryan was glad of that, he was no great lover of scars.

"What are you doing?" His dad demanded as Ryan slipped his bloodied shirt on and buttoned it up before slipping his jacket on over the top of it.

"I'm discharging myself from here. I hate hospitals and there is no need for me to be there. Really dad, in surgery the wound healed itself and the bullet is already becoming part of my system I can feel it. The doctors are suspicious." Ryan declared as he turned to the machine that was supposed to be monitoring his heart and turned it off.

"I'll sort that out, they won't remember a thing. If you're so determined to leave hear this. I will be staying on Earth for a while to keep an eye on you under the alias Lykos. Please refer to me as such." His father, or the so called Lykos, stated.

Ryan scoffed at the news but burst out laughing at the nickname. "The Greek word for wolf? Are you kidding me? That is…ridiculous and suspicious. Why would my father have a Greek name and his son a non-Greek name?"

His father is silent, his lips pressed together in a thin line. He was obviously not happy. "My parents were Greek historians, they took their job very seriously and named me with an Ancient name."

"No." Ryan said simply. "If you want a stupid name call yourself Esteban or Lorenzo."

"Perfect." His dad said after a moment. "I will be Esteban Wolfe then, your father."

"Might want to change your appearance if you want to be taken as my father."

'Esteban' ignored him. "What do you intend to tell your friends? And that Eric? He was there he will be suspicious."

"Simple." Ryan said softly, a smile on his lips, "I'll convince them I was wearing a bullet proof jacket."

"Be careful Ryan, make sure you do it right." Esteban warned.

Ryan whirled around and glared at him full on, all traces of his smile gone. "If you're so worried about my abilities you do it." He hissed before storming from the room.

He had not expected Eric to be waiting in the corridor that he had to take to get out of the hospital and was definitely not expecting him to grab him by the arms and force him into a chair.

"What the hell are you doing Wolfe!?" Eric asked angrily, doing his best to keep his voice down.

"I'm fine Eric. I was wearing a bullet proof vest so the bullet didn't graze me." Ryan stated calmly, fixing his eyes on Eric's to help him get the point across. He hated being what he was sometimes but he had to admit it did have its benefits, especially in situations like this one. Eric however, did not look convinced.

"What do you mean you were wearing a bullet proof vest I'm covered in your blood!" He snapped, gesturing to the blood on his shirt with equally bloodied hands.

Ryan frowned, it was going to be a lot harder to convince Eric that he had been wearing a vest that had stopped the bullet, but he could succeed…with his father's help. Luckily, or perhaps because he sensed that Ryan needed him, Esteban appeared behind him and held out a hand to help Ryan to his feet.

"It was lucky you were wearing a bullet proof vest Ryan," He stated firmly, catching Eric's eye in the same way that Ryan had. The unsure, angered look that Eric had had on his face faded away almost immediately and Ryan held back a sigh as his father steered him around the Cuban and out of the hospital.

"Did you change the thoughts of everyone in the hospital?" Ryan asked quietly as he climbed into his father's car.

"Yes. That man is going to be trouble Ryan, he doesn't believe us." Esteban muttered as he climbed into the driver's side and started the engine.

"Can't you make him?" Ryan slurred his words a little for he felt suddenly exhausted. He had been shot and had had to make the wound stay open even though his body wanted to heal it, but he had never realised it would make him so tired.

"Not with your blood all over his clothes." Esteban snapped. Ryan ignored his annoyance and disapproval, he was too tired to care.

"What about H and Alexx? And Calleigh as well?" He mumbled.

"I'll take care of that when I drop you off at home. They'll be easier to deal with since they didn't get covered in your blood, it'll be easy making them convinced that you weren't bleeding. That Eric though, he's going to become a problem in the future and not just in this particular issue." Esteban sighed, reaching over to fasten Ryan's seatbelt as the CSI hadn't done so in his tired state.  
"Oh Ryan I could just take you away from this place and back to our actual home but I know you'd just run away again to be here." Esteban murmured as he pulled away from the hospital and drove the relatively long journey back to Ryan's flat.

By the time he arrived at the flat Ryan was fast asleep in the seat of the car, as curled into himself as he could be, the seatbelt restricting his movement slightly. Esteban reached over and pulled Ryan's keys out of his pocket before climbing out of the car and moving around the other side of the car to take Ryan into his arms and carry him up to his apartment. It would have been easier to take the lift but he didn't really want to run into anyone so Esteban took the stairs, Ryan's weight easy in his arms, the stairs not taking anything from him.

"Ryan honey…who are you?" A voice cried as Esteban emerged on Ryan's floor and he found himself facing the Medical Examiner that Ryan was fond of…Alexx something.

"My name is Esteban Wolfe, I am Ryan's dad." Esteban replied to her question quickly, reaching forward to try and unlock the door.

"Here let me," Alexx offered and took the keys, opening the door and moving back so Esteban could carry Ryan over the threshold.  
"Is he okay?" She inquired, following Esteban in.

"Yeah just tired, getting shot hurts."

"I've seen many gunshots before I know," Alexx stated, following close behind Esteban as he moved to Ryan's meticulously clean bedroom and laid him in the bed, gently covering him with the covers and tucking them up to his chin.

"Is there something you need?" He inquired, turning to Alexx who was busy scrutinising him.

"You know Ryan has never once mentioned you to me before but he's mentioned his mother. Why are you here?" She asked in return, her arms folded.

Esteban had to hide a smirk at the question, he could see why his son would like this woman, she had the same sort of personality as his mother.  
"Ryan ran away from us after he decided to go to University. I've spent all this time tracking him down and I finally found him in Miami making a name for himself in the Crime Lab." He lied. He had known exactly where Ryan had been and he hadn't run away to go to University, but this woman did not need to know the truth.

"Can I take a look over him?" Alexx inquired, moving to Ryan's bedside and sitting down next to him gently, reaching forward and stroking his face.

"The doctor told me that he's fine and Ryan wanted to go home." Esteban said simply. "But sure, go ahead."

Alexx did so, pulling back the covers and pulling Ryan's shirt back. Esteban realised his mistake the moment she was pulling back his son's shirt and quickly reached forward and stayed her hand. Alexx looked up at him with surprise.

"What are you doing?"

"The doctor told me not to remove his bandages." Esteban stated firmly. Alexx did not look happy with him but she stood up and moved from Ryan.

"Tell him that I'm here to talk to him if he needs to." Alexx said softly before leaving the apartment.

Esteban turned to Ryan and pulled the covers back up to his neck, smiling softly and tucking him in before moving out of the bedroom and moving to the living room to wait for his son to wake up.

/

"Ryan you shouldn't be working today, not the day after you were shot." Horatio stated quietly yet firmly and Ryan had strong déjà vu from the time Horatio had told him to go home and rest after he had been falling asleep everywhere.

"I'm fine Horatio really." Ryan replied, unconsciously scratching as his chest where the bullet wound should be, a little uncomfortable that Horatio had used his first name.

When he had woken up the next morning Ryan had found his dad asleep on the couch and had covered him with a blanket before getting in the shower and staying there for at least two hours, scrubbing himself until he felt clean. He then moved around his apartment and cleaned things up, straightening things up and cleaning before dressing and leaving to head to the labs. Horatio had cornered him as soon as he had climbed off the lift, something Ryan was glad of, he wanted to avoid all the stares of the lab techs that had heard what had happened. Hopefully the story that he had been wearing a bullet proof vest would have circulated.

"Mr. Wolfe really, you should go home and rest." Horatio asserted.

"H please, resting at home sent me crazy when you sent me home last week, please don't send me home again." Ryan near enough begged.

Horatio observed him with a gaze that was extremely unnerving and Ryan fidgeted under it. "Alright Mr. Wolfe, Eric is in the morgue working on the John Doe you recovered before your accident. I'd be surprised anyone kept a bullet proof vest in their apartment but it doesn't surprise me that you do Mr. Wolfe, and it's lucky that you do."

Ryan smiled widely and stood. "Thank you Horatio." He exclaimed and stood, exiting Horatio's office and heading down to the morgue as quickly as possible. Ryan could not see Eric but Alexx was stood over the body but she did not seem to be talking about the body.

"I don't know Alexx…I think that Ryan was wearing a bullet proof vest but I just remember being covered in blood as well…I don't know what to think." Eric said quietly, leaning against the wall close to the door, Ryan could hear his voice perfectly.

There was a slight clattering from the room and Ryan assumed Alexx was examining some sort of body-part while she took in Eric's information. _Please don't let Eric know, please don't let Eric realise, _Ryan thought desperately, waiting for Alexx's reply.

"Eric honey you know that Ryan must have been wearing a vest otherwise he probably wouldn't have survived." Alexx finally said.

"I know Alexx, I really do," Eric snarled, then sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm just really confused. My head keeps telling me that he was wearing a vest but my heart tells me that he wasn't wearing a vest and something strange is happening." He added softly and Ryan heard him move from the door.

Taking a breath Ryan moved through the door and stopped when they both saw him and froze. Alexx moved first and hurried over to Ryan so he could enfold him in a hug.

"Ryan baby, I didn't think you'd be working today." She proclaimed and Ryan let her hug him tightly but his eyes were on Eric. He was staring at Ryan with a rather concerned expression on his face and Ryan knew, he just knew right then that Eric knew he hadn't been wearing a bullet proof vest but he was confused by how everyone else kept telling him that Ryan had been.

"Yeah well I felt fine when I woke up this morning and I didn't want to be stuck at home when there was no reason for me to be." Ryan replied, pulling back from Alexx and casting an eye over the body. An autopsy had been conducted but it was evident that the findings hadn't been discussed yet.  
"I have a question for you Alexx," He said after he grew sick of both Alexx and Eric staring at him, Eric still looking concerned and now confused and Alexx worried.

"What is it honey?"

"The suspect I shot, did he shoot this man?" Ryan asked.

"Calleigh confirmed the bullet match this morning, but there is something strange about the body." Alexx acknowledged and gestured for Eric and Ryan to come forward and take a look. "This is the bullet wound that killed him, but there is another gunshot on his body here," Alexx murmured, rolling the body onto its side and showing the two CSIs another hole.

"It's a different bullet," Eric commented.

"I gave it to Calleigh and she concurs, it is not from the gun that fired the shot that killed him. Calleigh didn't find a hit in the database so it's a dead end. But she probably knows what sort of gun you're looking for so you'll want to talk to her about that." Alexx said and Ryan noticed she was looking at the John Doe with a kind expression and he had to fight back a smile at her mothering tendencies even for the dead.

"So we're looking for another shooter?" Ryan inquired, even though he didn't really need to.

"Not necessarily," Eric broke in, "It could be the same man you shot yesterday just using a different weapon."

"Highly unlikely," Ryan muttered, avoiding Eric's eyes.

"Come boys no fighting in my morgue." Alexx warned them, "It could be the same man but you'll need to find the gun that matches the bullet striations to be sure. Tox doesn't show any abnormal things in his system but I did find skin under his finger nails, it's been sent up to DNA."

"Thanks Alexx. Ryan I need to talk to you." Eric stated and Ryan blinked in surprise but followed his colleague from the room when Eric made for the door, offering Alexx a smile to show her his gratitude. He didn't miss the worry in her eyes as he left.

Eric did not speak to him as he moved through up from the morgue to the labs and into the locker room. Ryan interlocked his fingers time and again as he followed Eric, praying that he would not continue prying into the memories he and his father had tried to cover up.

"Is there a problem Delko?" He demanded after they entered the locker room and Eric still didn't talk to him, focusing instead on opening his locker.

"Yeah Wolfe there is," Eric replied with a somewhat harsh tone before withdrawing a white shirt from his locker. Ryan looked at it in confusion until he saw the red stains of blood on the material and his brain froze for a moment as he tried to think of an excuse for that.

"What's that?" Ryan asked weakly.

"It's the shirt I was wearing when you got shot. This is your blood on this shirt." Eric stated. "This is your blood Wolfe and if I need to take this to DNA I will. If you were wearing a vest how did I get all this blood on my shirt?!" Eric demanded, shoving the shirt into Ryan's hands.

Ryan took the shirt but he had no words to say. Eric was glaring at him and Ryan knew he had to come up with an excuse fast.

"You went over to check the suspect I shot Delko, that's probably his blood." He finally managed to get out and Eric's expression went blank. Ryan waited nervously, suddenly feeling extremely tired under Eric's scrutiny. He could get out of this situation easily if he pretended to be too tired, if he pretended that he had thought wrong about being able to work and that he needed to go home.  
"I have to go and see Horatio, Delko, I don't feel well."

Eric immediately became concerned, or his expression did, but he crossed over to Ryan and put his hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"Want me to take you home?" He inquired.

"No Delko I don't." Ryan snapped. He did not have the patience to deal with Eric's mood swings.  
"You don't believe that I was wearing a vest and now suddenly you're concerned about me. Make up your mind Delko!"

With that said Ryan kept a tight hold on the shirt and stalked from the room, heading straight for the break room where he could see Horatio drinking a cup of coffee with Calleigh. Calleigh went to say something but Ryan cut her off.

"H I think I made a mistake. I feel a little ill and quite tired, is it alright if I take the day off?" He asked quickly and Horatio looked him over, his eyes lingering on the bloodied shirt that Ryan was holding slightly behind him before nodding.

"Mr. Wolfe, take as many days as you need." He added as Ryan made to leave the room. Ryan nodded curtly and wondered whether he would ever be ready to come back with Eric suspicious about what had happened.

When he got to the parking garage he wasn't surprised to find his father leaning against his car waiting for him. His appearance had changed, he no longer sported a bushy white beard or white hair, but rather dark stubble on his cheeks and hair the same colour as Ryan's, styled a little longer than his sons. The connection between them was evidently there now but Ryan couldn't bring himself to be bothered that his father had taken his advice.

"Drive me home," Ryan requested, throwing his dad the keys. Esteban did not argue, merely climbed into the driver's side and waited for Ryan to buckle up.

"It's that Eric isn't it?" Esteban asked as he drove.

Ryan sighed, rubbing at his eyes with finger and thumb. "Yeah. He gave me this," He said, brandishing the bloodied shirt at his father. Esteban's eyes flickered to it before focusing back on the road.  
"It's got my blood all over it. I tried to convince him this wasn't my blood but I know he doesn't believe me. He's unsure why he thinks that I wasn't wearing a vest since everyone else thinks I was but he's sure that I wasn't." Ryan continued, eyes closed, arms relaxed by his sides but he was frowning and Esteban didn't bother saying 'I told you so' because he knew Ryan was annoyed at himself for being so careless.

"What do you want to do then?" He inquired instead.

Ryan glanced at him. The last time his father had asked him that it was because he and a friend had had at University had gotten spectacularly drunk and Ryan had gotten into an accident and had ended up with a spike through his chest that should have killed him but he woke up the next morning and was fine. His friend had freaked out and called an ambulance but Ryan had managed to escape before they had arrived and sort out the wound himself. The solution that Esteban had decided upon was to 'remove' his friend from society and convince the emergency services that his friend had still been a little drunk and had mistaken a spilt drink on Ryan's shirt for blood. Ryan had had no choice in this particular matter despite Esteban asking him what he thought they should do at the time. He didn't want that to happen this time.

"We're not killing him." He stated firmly, shifting rather uncomfortable in his seat. "I think I should disappear for a bit, not go back to work, until this blows over and Delko lets it go." He suggested.

Esteban said nothing and Ryan knew he did not want to take this chance but Ryan was not going to give him a choice this time.

"I'm not going to let you get rid of Delko." Ryan reiterated. "It's too risky to do that this time, there is no reason for Delko to disappear and Horatio and the rest of the lab wouldn't rest until they found out what happened to him."

Esteban was still silent but his lips twitched slightly in a smile. Ryan watched him warily but when his father said nothing he relaxed and closed his eyes again.

"You care for him don't you?" Esteban eventually asked.

Ryan's eyes snapped open and he stared at his father. Esteban stayed calm and kept his eyes on the road as he drew nearer to Ryan's apartment but he was grinning now, as if Ryan's reaction had given him all the answer he needed.

"He's my colleague and recently we've grown near enough friends. We had a rocky start okay, I'd like to keep it from going back to that." Ryan tried to keep a pouty tone out of his voice as he spoke but his father just grinned and shook his head.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" He asked as he pulled up to Ryan's apartment block and smoothly parked his son's car in the underground car park.

"I'll be fine thank you." Ryan said stiffly, holding out his hand for his keys. Esteban handed them to him and climbed out of the car with him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I know how to contact you so if I need you I will. No doubt you'll always be close to me anyway." Ryan said forcefully, grabbing Eric's bloody shirt and heading for the stairs. Esteban stayed by his car, watching Ryan walk away with a rather blank expression on his face.

/

A week went by and Ryan heard on the news that Clavo Cruz had escaped from court with help and that Alexx had been caught in the explosion that had helped free him. He had talked to her every day on the phone since that day and he spoke to Horatio every so often as well to assure Horatio that he was healing fine, he just felt too tired to be in work. These conversations usually took place during the late afternoon, when Horatio was either on a break or wasn't too busy on a case.

That's why when Ryan received a call from Calleigh's phone instead of Horatio's he immediately knew something was wrong. Calleigh had called a few times to make sure he was okay but apart from that Ryan had not heard from her and at the time that it was – early afternoon Ryan realised as he glanced at his clock – she probably was on the job. This was not a personal call.

"Calleigh what's-?" Ryan began to ask but Calleigh told him to be quiet and he fell silent.

"Eric's been shot." She stated as soon as Ryan was quiet.

Ryan's thoughts immediately went to his father and anger filled him. Calleigh's next words had him second guessing himself.

"He was investigating the Clavo Cruz hostage situation with Horatio so we think that one of Clavo Cruz's men attacked them and he was shot…in the head. They don't know if he's going to make it. We need you to come back Ryan, we need you here." Her voice nearly cracked as she spoke. Ryan felt like his heart stopped at those words. Eric couldn't die. No, he couldn't. This was the moment that Ryan realised two things. One, Calleigh loved Eric. Two, so did he. He had always known that he preferred the company of men to that of women, even though he seemed to find it easier to make friends with females, but he had never assumed he would fall for Eric.

"I'll be at the hospital straight away." He cried down the phone when he registered that Calleigh was saying his name to try and get a reaction from him. Snapping his phone shut Ryan glanced at the coffee mug that was on the coffee table's surface instead of the coaster, at the papers just haphazardly scattered on the desk and he bypassed it all, with great difficulty since his OCD was rather strong and made for the door, grabbing his keys and rushing to his car to get to the hospital to find out news on Eric.


	3. Fixture

Eric is in hospital after being shot in the head and Ryan has to try and deal with a lot of feelings and emotions while trying to figure out if there is anything he can do. Lots of Ryan/OC!Dad.

So I know this chapter is very Ryan/Esteban focused but Eric was in hospital. The next chapter will definitely be more Ryan/Eric in it and other characters from Miami as well.  
Eric recovery and Ryan trying to hide exactly what he is as well will feature in the next chapter.  
Enjoy!.

* * *

"H."

Ryan had arrived at the hospital very quickly and found Horatio relatively quickly, standing outside an empty room but looking in through the window. For one terrible moment Ryan thought that Eric had died but Horatio realised he was there quickly and turned to him with a light smile and Ryan knew that H would not be smiling if Eric were dead.

"Mr. Wolfe, how are you feeling?" Horatio inquired.

Ryan blinked. Such a normal question that fitted so well into his personal situation didn't feel right at the moment, considering Eric had been shot in the head and Ryan wasn't sure if he was alive or not.

"How's Delko?" Ryan asked, bypassing Horatio's question completely. He had realised not ten minutes ago at least that he loved Eric and he wanted information on him.

"He's in surgery. No other news apart from that he's still alive right now." Horatio replied quietly. "Tell me how you're feeling Ryan." The older CSI requested, switching to his rare use of Ryan's first name to symbolise to the young man that he wasn't going to stop until he knew the answer to his question.

"I'm fine." Ryan managed to say without snapping. Horatio's eyebrows rose. "I mean it Horatio I can come and help catch the guy who did this."

"Nothing like an accident for a friend to motivate you." Calleigh's voice said and Ryan jumped to find that she had snuck up behind them both.

"Calleigh." Horatio murmured in acknowledgement and she offered him a rather strained smile in response. Ryan did not smile or speak but when he met her eyes he could see the worry in them and the inherent fear that she felt for Eric. He felt the same but he knew he could easily hide it from her.

"Any news?" Calleigh asked.

"None. Alexx was allowed into the operating theatre with him so he's in safe hands." Horatio replied.

Silence fell between the three of them and Ryan fidgeted with the cuffs of his shirt. He wondered where his dad had gone and part of him wished he was here. Ryan shook his head and closed his eyes, he did not want his dad here, he'd probably be…well happy…that Eric had received this wound he might forget things.

"Lieutenant Caine."

A doctor in scrubs had approached them, looking rather tired but smiling.

"How is he?" Horatio asked quickly.

"He's got a battle ahead of him. Most of the bullet is still lodged in his temporal lobe it would be impossible for us to remove it, and he may suffer permanent damage to motor skills, speech and memory due to a hematoma." The doctor explained as several other doctors appeared, wheeling Eric towards the empty room next to them. Bandages were wrapped around his head and his eyes were closed, a tube was down his throat to help him breath and he was hooked up to two IVs and a mini heart monitor. Alexx appeared behind the trolley, wearing scrubs herself and when she met Ryan's eyes he could see her own worry.

"He'll survive, Delko is strong." Ryan found himself saying. Alexx noticed him seemingly for the first time despite the fact that she had caught his eye first before turning to Horatio.

"Ryan honey what are you doing here? Horatio said you were too tired to work. Silly boy." She chastised him fondly and Ryan was torn between grimacing and smiling at her ability to still mother him despite the fact Eric was lying in a hospital bed.

"I'm fine Alexx really. I'm going to help you catch this guy." He stated. Alexx smiled warmly before turning and entering the room where doctors were checking Eric's vitals.

"Calleigh take Ryan back to the lab and brief him on what has happened and what evidence we have. I'm going to stay here and wait with Eric." Horatio ordered as he watched Alexx sit by Eric's side and take his hand.

"Alright Horatio. Call us if anything happens." Calleigh accepted. Ryan said nothing but he followed Calleigh as she made her way silently out of the hospital. Her shoulders were stiffened as she walked and her hands were balled tightly into fists and Ryan realised quite suddenly that she was trying to contain her emotions, to stop herself from crying. _I'm realising a lot of things suddenly recently_, Ryan thought drily.

/

The day went quickly by and night soon approached and Ryan found himself stood outside the hospital looking at the double doors. He knew visiting hours were over, but he couldn't tear himself away. Eric lay in there. Visiting hours were over, he knew that, but Ryan really just wanted to see Eric and know that he was okay. Well, to know that he was still alive. That was one of the reasons he had stolen a doctor's uniform and was intending to use it to sneak into the hospital and check on Eric. Sit with him for a bit. Hold his hand and pray that he was going to survive, going to get better, going to live a normal life.

Standing in the cold night air Ryan took a deep breath and made his way into the hospital. He was already wearing the clothes he had stolen and he had had to force himself to leave a coat at home. No one passed a glance at him, none of the late night patients, the tired and cranky receptionists or the doctors and nurses that hurried past him. He reached Eric's room with almost nobody speaking to him, perhaps because he had been walking so quickly and had had a grim expression on his face, those who assumed him to be a colleague also assumed that he had something important to attend to. Which he did.

Eric was lying in the bed in the same position he had been in when Ryan had seen him earlier that day. Crossing to the glass walls of Eric's room Ryan drew the blinds so they hid his presence and locked the door as well. He knew he shouldn't, that if there was a problem the doctors would need to get in to see Eric quickly, but he wanted privacy.

"Hey Eric," He said softly, his voice cracking a bit as he tried to be quiet and get used to saying Eric when he normally said Delko. "You better wake up soon everyone's really worried about you."

"Touching," A voice said just as softly as Ryan had and the CSI whirled around to find Esteban watching him from next to the window of the room, which was open, arms crossed, dark hair windswept and covering one of his eyes slightly.

"What are you doing here?" Ryan hissed, hurrying to the open window and closing it and the curtains swiftly.

"I could ask you the same thing Ryan." Esteban replied coolly, making no move as Ryan glared at him and moved to Eric's bedside. His eyes followed Ryan's every move however and there was something akin to cool disapproval in their depth. Ryan ignored what he could see there and focused on Eric.

"I had to see he was okay." Ryan eventually murmured as he took one of Eric's hands and gently massaged the palm of it with his thumb.

"You love him don't you?" Esteban inquired, slipping an arm around Ryan's shoulders.

Ryan jumped at the contact as he hadn't realised his father had moved to stand next to him. Esteban still wore a rather blank look on his face but his eyes held sorrow and pity in them instead of disapproval.

"I think I do. I know I can't get involved with him," Ryan said hastily as Esteban went to say something, "But I can look at him and help him when he's injured dad, it's what a good friend does."

"I know Ryan, I know." Esteban muttered, "But you have to be careful. If he gets wind of your feelings, or if he even starts to show that he likes you too…well you know what I'm going to say."

"I do." Ryan confirmed, "You fell in love with a human before you met my mother and it was heart-breaking for you when she died and you had no way to follow her. Doomed to live forever and no wound could ever kill you. And I'm the same. I should avoid falling in love at all because it hurts, unless I'm lucky enough to meet someone the same as me." He spoke in a resigned tone, for he had heard this speech a lot from his father when he had come home with a girl or a boy and claimed they were going to be together forever.

Esteban said nothing. He could tell that Ryan was upset about the fact that he did, indeed, love Eric Delko but that it was impossible for them to ever be together because of what Eric was. Or rather because of what Ryan was. Esteban turned and pulled up another chair next to Ryan so he could gain easier access to hug his son. Ryan leant into the embrace but did not move to hug his father back, merely kept hold of Eric's hands and focused on his friend's face.

"He's not going to be the same." Ryan sighed after a moment. Esteban was silent, waiting for Ryan to continue.  
"' Most of the bullet is still lodged in his temporal lobe it would be impossible for us to remove it, and he may suffer permanent damage to motor skills, speech and memory due to a hematoma.' That's what the doctor said."

Esteban couldn't help but smile at the ability Ryan had to remember what was said to him word for word no matter the situation. Ryan didn't notice, or if he did he knew why his father was smiling so he didn't comment on it.

"I'm sure he'll be fine Ryan, they said that he may suffer from those things, not that it was definite." Esteban said softly, squeezing Ryan's shoulder a little to comfort him. Sometimes he wished Ryan was more open to affection from him so he could comfort him properly in these situations but Ryan had always denied the fact that he needed comfort from anyone.

"You don't know that!" Ryan cried, prompting Esteban to place a finger to his lips and shush his son. Ryan glanced at him before once again focusing on Eric. "You don't know that he's going to fine. None of us do. Unless-…" Ryan trailed off before he could finish and looked at the floor.

"What Ryan?" Esteban pushed.

"Unless we did something." Ryan mumbled.

"No Ryan, we can't." Esteban stated firmly.

"I know."

Silence fell between them then as they both watched Eric lying somewhat peacefully before them, eyelids fluttering every now and then in his sleep. Ryan did not let go of Eric's hand, even when he fell asleep slumped against Esteban and he had to carry Ryan home because the CSI had walked to the hospital instead of driven there. His fingers were still curled when Esteban put him to bed as if he were still holding Eric's hand. Esteban smiled sadly before turning off the light.

/

The next couple of days were rather hectic and emotions were running high as the entire lab, both day and night, worked their hardest to find the man who had shot Eric and the man he had been working for, Clavo Cruz. Every so often he got in touch with Horatio who would keep calm while talking to him, even if his eyes did blaze in anger at having him so close and yet so far. Calleigh mentioned at one point that it felt like everything was moving in double speed and that they had to be as careful as possible not to miss the one piece of key evidence that would nail the guy who had shot Eric. Ryan however felt like everything was moving in slow motion. He meticulously went over every single piece of evidence that had been collected before and after the shooting, looking for that one thing, that one little piece that would break the case. Ryan wanted to catch this guy, wanted to catch him more than any other criminal and he was working himself into frenzy. At nights he wasn't sleeping properly because he was sneaking into the hospital and sitting with Eric. Usually Esteban was there too but sometimes Ryan was alone.

Calleigh could tell, she thought, that Ryan was driving himself crazy with this case. Only about a week earlier Ryan had stopped Eric from getting shot by taking a bullet himself and it must have been frustrating for him to see Eric now with a bullet wound to the head, she found herself thinking. She and Ryan had found the man they were sure had shot Eric, Tanner Wilcox, but he had tested negative for GSR and they had had to let him go.

But now, now they had him. Together they had figured out that the gun used to shoot Eric had been a rifle and therefore the earlier GSR test had been used on the wrong hand.

Together Calleigh and Ryan were sat in a room again with the security guard who they had originally tested before they found Tanner Wilcox. He was sat calmly before them, albeit with a little confusion woven into his expression. Ryan was standing next to him and he grabbed his left hand rather roughly and started to swab at it to apply the GSR test. When the young CSI saw that it came back positive the frenzy that he had been holding back broke through the barriers and he went for the man before him, the man that had shot his friend, the man that he loved. The police officer stood near the wall stopped him before he could do anything and Calleigh's professional, stern tone as she called his name made Ryan stop and think for a moment. He wanted to punch this guy, to beat this guy, to completely and utterly destroy this man and yet it wouldn't help Eric.

The day quickly ended after the security guard was taken to prison until Ryan overheard Horatio talking to Calleigh about how Eric had woken up and was asking after Marisol, who had been dead for quite a while now. Ryan knew that Marisol and Horatio had been married for a few short hours at least before she died and despite that they had been very close. How could Eric think she was alive? He was going to have to learn she was dead again. It was horrible. Ryan took a deep breath and hurried from the crime lab, on his way to the hospital, with one idea on his mind to help Eric.

/

"Ryan." Esteban said softly as soon as Ryan entered Eric's hospital room and the CSI had to stop himself from jumping at the sound and making some sort of noise.

"What are you doing here?" Ryan hissed.

"I knew you'd be coming here tonight, since Delko was awake today." Esteban replied.

"I came to help him." Ryan admitted. He crossed to Eric's bedside and took a seat on the bed instead of the vacant chair. Esteban stayed stood against the far wall, arms folded.

"How?"

"You know how." Ryan snapped. "You're the one that told me I could do it if I really wanted to!"

Esteban's eyes widened as he realised what Ryan was talking about. "You cannot heal him Ryan."

"Why not dad? Why can't I heal Eric and take that wound away from him and make him remember everything?" Ryan asked harshly, turning his head to look right at Esteban, anger in his eyes.

"What do you think would happen if he was suddenly better after getting shot in the head?" Esteban pointed out incredulously.

"Well they wouldn't suspect me!" Ryan cried.

"Ryan!" Esteban barked, his voice carrying raw rage, standing up straight and drawing himself to his full height. He was quite a bit taller than Ryan when standing and more so now since Ryan was sat down and he used this to gain authority in the conversation. Ryan was staring at him a little shocked. It had been a while since his father had used that tone with him, even when they had been arguing about whether Ryan was going to stay in Miami or go home Esteban had not used that tone, even when angry.

"No dad." Ryan stated firmly when Esteban went to say something else. When he had been younger his dad had managed to scare him with that tone but now things were different, especially after what Horatio had mentioned about Marisol.  
"You can't stop me from doing this. I want to help Eric. You said it yourself the first night we spent here 'the doctor only said may', therefore it is possible that Eric could recover fully without any problems. It's slim but it could happen!"

Esteban moved forward so quickly that Ryan didn't notice until he felt an iron grip fasten on his upper arm and he was slammed against the wall. His father was pinning him against the wall with just one hand and Ryan couldn't break away from his strength. With his other hand Esteban grasped Ryan's chin in a firm grip and forced his son to look at him.

"You can't do this." Esteban repeated gently this time.

"I don't want Eric to live a different life dad! It's not fair." Ryan's voice quavered as he spoke and Esteban saw tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. "Horatio said that Eric was awake today and asking for his sister, Marisol. She died dad, she died months ago and Eric was coming to terms with it, at least it seemed so. I don't want him to have to go through her death twice! What if he gets his memories back? He'll feel horrible for forgetting her death and hurting Horatio by asking for her! He cannot go through that again! Not when I can help him." Ryan continued, his voice steadily rising as he became more and more worked up and distressed.

Esteban moved back from his son so Ryan could stand properly before enveloping him in a hug. Ryan resisted at first but eventually his arms came around Esteban to curl into the back of his shirt and Ryan buried his face in his chest, sobbing against him.

"It isn't your choice to make Ryan." Esteban soothed, stroking his son's hair, "If Eric is to suffer these defects then all you can do is support him as best you can, without doing anything that a human wouldn't do."

"But I can help him in other ways!" Ryan's words were muffled by Esteban's shirt but he heard them fine and sighed.

"If I allowed this what would you do?" He asked after a few moments of silence, broken only by Ryan's crying.

"I'd do it even if you didn't allow it." Ryan claimed and Esteban smiled despite himself. "But I'd…I don't know, take the wound from him! If I had it I'd heal in a matter of minutes, well maybe a little longer since it is a bad injury, and Eric would have no issues. No memory loss, no speech impairment, nothing, he'd just be the same old Eric!"

"Ryan do you even know how to do that?"

"No."

"Then you can't."

Ryan nodded, "Then I'll do something else!"

"No Ryan listen to me. I was going to say, you can't, but I can."

Ryan pulled back and looked up at Esteban, confusion written all over his face.

"I've done this before, sometimes just on people that didn't deserve to die, other times it was when someone I cared about was hurt but I learnt in the end that it was dangerous to do that. When someone is shot at point blank and is so close to death it is obvious they aren't going to recover it is pretty obvious that when they live there is something strange going on. It's only a matter of time until the finger is pointed at you."Esteban admitted with a rather wry smile.

"So you're willing to help?" Ryan asked.

"I wouldn't be able to stop you from doing it regardless." Esteban smirked, "So I may as well do it."

"Thanks dad." Ryan said.

"I can do it now-."Esteban began before both he and Ryan froze and looked at the door where the doorknob was turning. Quickly Ryan vaulted off the bed and hurried over to the door so he could hide behind it when the doctor entered. Esteban rolled under the bed and lifted himself up using the metal bars so the doctor would not see him there.

The doctor checked Eric's heart monitor and then his IV before standing for a few minutes and looking down at his patient. Ryan watched in concern through the glass panel of the door as the minutes ticked by and the doctor merely stared at Eric. From his position Ryan could not see the doctor's expression but from the way he was merely stood looking down at Eric made Ryan think he was just sad to see someone so injured with no possibility for doctor help. Eventually the man turned and Ryan ducked so he wouldn't be seen and sighed in relief when the door was closed. Esteban appeared after a few seconds and smiled as Ryan offered a hand to help him up.

"I can do it now Ryan. It's possible that he might wake up during so he might see you but you can pass that off as hallucinations due to being shot." Esteban finished what the doctor had interrupted and Ryan nodded. He moved to Eric's bedside and took his hand. Esteban moved with his son and sat on Eric's other side and took Eric's other hand. He closed his eyes and Ryan decided to keep his eyes on Eric instead of his dad, he'd never seen this happen and he knew that his father wouldn't be happy if he copied what to do from this.  
"Ryan."

Ryan glanced at his father, but his eyes were still closed.

"I want to see if I can make him forget that you weren't wearing a bullet proof vest." Esteban stated, "It'll be the only thing he doesn't remember."

"But you said that since we couldn't achieve it Eric was always going to remember." Ryan replied, perplexed.

"Well I might be able to do it now." Esteban explained.

Ryan went silent and so did his father and they sat together in silence for five minutes. Ryan held Eric's hand and watched as his eyes flicked under the lids in his sleep. Esteban began muttering under his breath but Ryan could tell that he was just running through what he had to do.

Eric's eyes flew open and he focused on Ryan, who looked right back at him. His lips moved and Ryan thought he saw his name mouthed but he said nothing, he wanted to be able to convince Eric that he had been dreaming or hallucinating and talking to him would probably make that difficult.

"Ryan," Eric managed to mutter though his voice was so weak Ryan nearly missed it.

He glanced at his father but Esteban still had his eyes closed and he was mouthing to himself instead of muttering. Evidently he had missed Eric talking. Ryan smiled. If Eric was going to remember anything about this little moment then he wanted him to remember his smile. He knew Eric would never like him back, it was evident he wouldn't, he was such a ladies man there was no way he was going to look at Ryan over all the women in Miami. Shaking his head to clear those sorts of thoughts from his head Ryan's smile faded when Eric's eyes fluttered closed again. Esteban suddenly convulsed next to him and Ryan jumped. He could see blood in his father's hair so Ryan dropped Eric's hand and moved around the bed, just in time to catch Esteban as he went limp and fell off the bed. Ryan gently lowered himself to the floor with his father in his arms.

"Never thought I'd be holding my father as he died." He murmured.

"Healing not dying." Esteban choked out.

Ryan said nothing in reply, shifting a little so his legs didn't go numb supporting his father as he lay, paralysed as his body worked to heal the wound in his skull and rid of him of the bullet, which Ryan only realised he had taken from Eric when it fell to the floor with a clatter next to his knee.

"Is it done?" Ryan asked when his father was still and lay quiet in his arms.

"Yes,"

Ryan moved again to stand, pulling Esteban with him and steadying him when he stumbled sideways.

"Dizzy?"

"It's a hard thing to do Ryan, even being what we are." Esteban nearly snapped at his son but stopped himself just in time, knowing Ryan was just being, well, Ryan.

"What are we exactly?" Ryan asked as he helped Esteban sit on the bed next to Eric. He had asked his father that question many times during his life and Esteban had never answered him.

"It's difficult to explain. I guess to humans we'd be angels, or gods." Esteban said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh."

Eric shifted in his sleep and Ryan's attention was drawn to him. He was smiling now, peaceful in rest and Ryan knew if he checked under the bandages on his head there would be only a scar now, as if the bullet wound had happened years ago.

"We should go Ryan, he might wake up and we'd better not be here when he does." Esteban stated, standing and stretching.

"Okay." Ryan replied. Esteban silently took Ryan's hand and led him from Eric's room. Ryan normally would have protested at this action but he could tell from the tight grip that his father was using that he needed to be holding something as he moved. With one last glance at Eric's room Ryan moved forward and wrapped an arm around Esteban's shoulders to support him properly as they left the hospital.

/

Ryan found himself sat in the break room of the Crime Lab when Horatio got the call from the hospital about Eric's condition. Calleigh was with him making a fresh cup of coffee when Horatio entered, followed by Natalia, Frank and Alex.

"I received a call from the hospital." Horatio stated.

"Is Eric okay?" Calleigh asked immediately.

"He's fine." Horatio said simply. "The doctors don't know what to make of it. He woke up this morning and seemed coherent, with all his memories intact and they even say his wound seems to have healed a lot quicker than it should have done."

Every one of them stood and stared at Horatio, dumb-founded, except for Ryan. Ryan turned his face away from them and smiled softly so they wouldn't see. They would never know what had happened to Eric but at least now it was confirmed that he was okay.


	4. Admissions

Summary:

Three months pass by and Eric finally demands to know what is going on with Ryan. Ryan denies anything so Eric takes rather drastic measures to prove that he is not going crazy. More than one truth is finally revealed to Eric.

Notes:

So another update xD I know I said I probably wasn't going to update until after May 28th but I really can't stay away from this story, it's too much fun to write. And I love Eric/Ryan. As I promised this one is more central to Eric/Ryan instead of Ryan and Esteban. Horatio, Calleigh and Frank throw in for good measure too xD

If it isn't clear enough, three months have gone since Eric was released from hospital and there was no talk about Ryan being shot, or the fact that Eric is completely fine but Eric had been mulling it over and over in his head until he sick and tired of thinking that he was going crazy because he remembered one thing and everyone else plus Ryan was saying another. A little angsty maybe, but trust me it will definitely become Eric/Ryan xD

* * *

Ryan moaned as he moved his arm from across his face. Someone was banging on the door of his flat and had woken him. He had been sleeping on his couch, having fallen asleep as he had been looking through some case notes from cold cases. It was a rare day off for him but Ryan had taken a copy of the notes home so he could review them and see if there was anything that had been missed in the original investigation. Climbing off the couch Ryan ran a hand through his hair and cursed whoever was at his door. When he finally opened the door to his flat he did not expect to see Eric stood there, arms folded and a determined on his face.

It had been three months since Eric had been released from the hospital, three whole months of normality, or so Ryan thought. He had been stuck, by Horatio's orders, in the lab constantly for the first month of so because H hadn't wanted Eric out in the field so soon after his injury. During that time Ryan had found himself staring at Eric more than he should, silently deciding which aspects of Eric in general he loved the most. Eric for his part hadn't seemed to notice, but occasionally Ryan had caught the older CSI staring at him with a strange, thoughtful look on his face. Apart from the strange glances and a rather strained silence between them most of the time the three months after Eric was released were relatively normal. Eric hadn't mentioned Ryan being shot and Ryan hadn't mentioned Eric being shot and Ryan assumed that his father had succeeded and Eric thought he was wearing a vest.

And yet now here Eric was, stood outside his flat and Ryan had to take a moment to try to process the fact that the look on Eric's face told him that his father had actually failed but Eric had just been ignoring what his heart told him and had possibly tried to accept what everyone around him had been telling him. Fighting his urge to tell Eric to go away or to take a deep breath to calm himself Ryan cocked his head slightly to the side and decided to take the initiative and find out why Eric was there.

"Delko what are you-?"

"Can I come in?" Eric inquired rather harshly, cutting Ryan off abruptly. Ryan blinked in shock and Eric did not wait for him to collect his thoughts, merely pushed past Ryan into the flat.

"Sure." Ryan finally said sarcastically but Eric ignored him. Ryan slammed the door shut and followed Eric as he walked into the open plan living room of Ryan's flat, his eyes flying over how every single thing was methodically placed and set at clean cut angles.

"Tell me what's going on Wolfe." Eric demanded, turning suddenly to face Ryan who stopped in his tracks to avoid bumping into Eric.

Ryan was silent. _Oh god._ He thought as he crossed to the coffee table and started sorting through the coasters and papers set upon it, trying to calm himself down. Unfortunately Eric was one of few people that knew that when Ryan's OCD started acting up like this it was because he was nervous or trying to avoid a subject.

"Wolfe."

"I don't know what you're talking about Delko." Ryan snapped, keeping his hands gripped tightly around the papers he was holding to stop himself from slamming them down on the table in anger.

Eric scoffed. "Sure you don't. You know, I don't know about you but to me, getting shot at pretty much point blank range, in the chest, and then being fine about twenty or so minutes later isn't normal."

Ryan rolled his eyes. _Great so he didn't forget that,_ he thought, thoroughly annoyed with Delko for having such a good memory. What was the point of being able to infer things into people's heads if it didn't always work? Ryan held back his urge to voice his annoyance, since Delko knew something was wrong anyway. Instead he gave the same old reply.

"I told you Delko, I was wearing a vest."

"No you weren't!" Eric exclaimed, the anger clear in his voice. "I was here when H called me for this scene Wolfe! I saw you grab your kit and come with me, not stopping for anything, no vest, no nothing." He continued his voice harsh.

Ryan sighed and stood up to face his colleague, already formulating another excuse. Eric however seemed done with discussing it and he drew his service weapon from its holster and aimed it at Ryan. Shocked at such a display Ryan held his hands up in a placating gesture, his mind racing.

"Come on Delko, put the gun down. Maybe…maybe getting shot impaired your memory and you're forgetting a few things? I mean, Horatio did tell us that you were asking for Marisol when you first woke up so-." Ryan managed to stammer out but Eric cut him off with a laugh, lowering his gun momentarily as he eyed Ryan with a strange look in his eye. He did not look angry, he did not look crazed, Eric merely looked calm and controlled, if not determined and slightly frustrated.

"I was tired and only half-conscious when that happened. And yet the next day when I woke up I was completely fine, hardly any pain at all and I remembered every single thing that had happened to me, even getting shot." Eric pointed out, re-aiming his gun at Ryan. "In fact that night, before I awoke and felt fine I swear I saw you stood beside my bed, holding my hand even. So tell me, Wolfe, did I imagine that too?" Eric spat Ryan's name and Ryan took a step back in shock at the harshness of Eric's tone.

"Come on Delko just put the gun down." Ryan repeated as calmly as he could, his eyes fixed upon the weapon. If Eric shot him his secret would be revealed and Esteban would force him to leave Miami and never return. Ryan had seen his father's anger only once but it had been terrifying to behold even then. Eric laughed again and Ryan was suddenly sure that he could not talk his way out of this unless he gave Eric what he wanted.

"No Wolfe if you won't tell me," Eric murmured, "I'm going to proof something is going on with you."

As Ryan opened his mouth to remind Eric that he had neighbours, to beg Eric not to shoot him Eric took one breath and fired twice.

/

"Horatio?!" Frank demanded the lieutenant as soon as he the lift doors opened and Horatio appeared in front of him straight away from Natalia's lab where he, Calleigh and Natalia had been going over some evidence from the same cold case Ryan had been reviewing at home.

"What is it Frank?" He asked, taking in Frank's frantic appearance.

"Just got a call to dispatch from a woman who said she'd heard shots fired. I checked the address and it's Wolfe's." Frank rushed, "I've held off on sending out cops, thought I'd let you know first."

"Thank you Frank." Horatio said. He pulled his phone free and quickly dialled Ryan's number as he beckoned for Calleigh to join them.  
"Mr. Wolfe-." Horatio began as soon as the ringing tone stopped but paused when he heard not Ryan's voice but Eric's. Horatio frowned as he listened to Eric's explanation of why he was at Ryan's house and why shots had been fired but he accepted the explanation and turned to Frank.  
"Thank you Frank, no officers will be needed."

"What's going on Horatio?" Calleigh asked as Frank nodded.

"Shots were fired at Ryan's flat." Horatio replied calmly.

"Is he okay?" Calleigh asked immediately.

Horatio nodded "Eric answered Ryan's phone and said that he had gone to Ryan to ask him for advice because he had been experiencing double vision and he knew that Ryan had had problems when he was shot in the eye. The shot was a miss-fire on his part and neither of them are injured."

"Shouldn't we head over there just to check?" Calleigh asked, the concern evident in her voice.

"I trust Eric's word Calleigh," Horatio replied with a small smile. Calleigh knew that smile, she knew it meant that Horatio knew more than he was saying but she also knew that she could trust Horatio.  
"I want you to keep an eye on Eric and Ryan when they return to work Calleigh." Horatio added.

"Of course. What exactly should I be looking for?" Calleigh asked.

"Who knows." Was all Horatio said in reply before walking off back to Natalia.

/

Ryan blinked rapidly as he slowly came back round to consciousness and moaned as pain shot through his head. For a moment he was left wondering what had happened before he suddenly remembered and groaned. Eric had shot him in the stomach and then in the knee, shattering his knee-cap and sending him careening to the floor. Due to his fall he had smacked his head on the floor, knocking him unconscious. Lifting his head up Ryan noticed that Eric had undone his shirt and had pulled his pants up over his knee so he could observe the wounds. He had healed, Ryan knew it without even looking and he also knew that his blood was all over the floor, all over his clothes, staining the wood and fabric and Ryan lurched into a sitting position, intent on getting up and rushing to clean up. Eric rested a hand firmly on his shoulder to stop him.

"What is going on Wolfe?" The Cuban demanded, his voice low and disbelief evident in his tone.

Ryan sighed. He really needed to clean up, it had only been a few minutes and he already felt sick and desperate to wipe at the blood on him and on the floor.

"Let me clean up, Eric, and I'll explain everything to you." Ryan eventually said, resigned now to his fate. If he told Eric, Esteban was going to find out he knew and that would put Eric in danger and the only way Ryan could stop that was by leaving Miami. He'd be lucky if his father didn't turn up outside his door almost immediately after he intended to tell him to cart him off, without giving him a chance to explain himself properly.

Eric made no reply but he moved his hand back. Ryan moved away from Eric before standing up. He snatched his phone from where it lay next to Eric, he assumed someone had called to find out what the shots were and Eric had answered, and disappeared from the living room into his bathroom. Eric watched him go before turning to look at the blood on the floor. _This isn't natural, _he thought as he moved to get a cloth and help Ryan with the cleanup, even though he knew that it wouldn't be good enough for Ryan. He hoped Ryan wouldn't spend a lot of time getting cleaned up so he could tell him what was going on.

In his bathroom Ryan fumbled with his phone, running his thumbs over the keys and wondering if he should dial his dad now or not. If he didn't do it now he never would so Ryan dialled the number Esteban had given him and listened to it ring.

"_Hello?"_ A voice asked. Ryan smiled involuntarily as he heard his mother's voice answering the phone just before it went to answer-phone.

"Hey mum, I need to talk to dad." Ryan said immediately. It was evident that his father did not have caller ID for him yet otherwise his mother would have known who he was. There was no reply to him but Ryan could hear muffled talking on the other end so he knew his mother must be talking to Esteban.

"_What's going on Ryan?"_ Esteban asked quickly, his voice laced with concern.

"Eric knows. He knows." Ryan gasped. The gravity of his situation finally hit him and his eyes filled with tears. _This is brilliant, _he thought angrily, _I just found out that I love Eric and now this stupid shit has to happen!_

"_What do you mean he knows?"_ Esteban yelled, bringing Ryan back from his thoughts. _"How the hell did he find out?" _

"He didn't forget that I wasn't wearing a vest." Ryan stated, "He remembered but he hasn't mentioned it over the last three months or so, I just thought he'd actually forgotten but he hasn't. He came over to prove it to himself."

"_What did he do to you Ryan? Did he hurt you?"_ Esteban asked urgently. Ryan heard his mother demanding the exact same thing immediately after Esteban and smiled sadly. He wiped at his eyes to stop himself from bursting into tears properly but the pause seemed to give Esteban his answer.  
_"He hurt you didn't he? I'm coming over!"_

"No!" Ryan cried, then winced at how loud he had said that, he didn't want to call Eric to the bathroom.  
"No dad I'm fine really, I wouldn't be talking to you if I wasn't okay."

"_So what did he do to prove it to himself?"_ Esteban asked and Ryan could just imagining him pacing back and forth in an attempt to calm himself whereas his mother would be pestering him for answers to find out if Ryan was okay.

"He…he shot me." Ryan admitted.

Silence followed his words.

"_He shot you!"_ Esteban exploded. Ryan winced and held his phone away from his ear. _"What the hell is wrong with him?!" _

"Dad relax I'm okay." Ryan laughed despite his tears.

Esteban made a noise similar to "humph" down the phone and Ryan sighed, leaning against his bathroom door and looking down at the mess of his clothes.

"_Is he still there?"_ Esteban asked suddenly.

"Yeah he's in the living room waiting for an explanation." Ryan replied.

"_What are you going to do?"_

"I'm not going to kill him if that's what you're asking me." Ryan growled.

"_I'm not asking you to,"_ Esteban said immediately, defensively and Ryan shook his head, he knew exactly what his father was saying to him.  
_"If you tell him the truth Ryan you must swear him to secrecy! If he does not keep your secret you cannot stay here."_

"Won't running away make me look suspicious?"

"_Ryan, we wouldn't run away without some sort of excuse. I'm just letting you know."_ Esteban murmured.

"I know."

Ryan flipped his phone shut and dropped it onto his neatly folded laundry pile. Taking a breath to calm himself he peeled off his clothes and added them to the laundry pile before stepping into the shower and turning the water on full blast. It as a shock of cold before the heat finally kicked in and Ryan had to bite his lip to stop himself from shouting. Would Eric be willing to keep it a secret when Ryan told him the truth? Had the positions been reversed Ryan would have kept the secret without being asked but he loved Eric, and he wouldn't want Eric to leave. Eric didn't love him, he was sure of that, and things had been tense between them when they had first met. Ryan thought they were friends now but he could never tell with Eric because his moods changed almost with a click of the fingers.

He glanced down at his stomach and felt for where he knew the bullet had entered. It hadn't been a through and through and Ryan could feel the bullet dissolving into his system, becoming one with his body so it would not harm him. Eric had opened his shirt, had sat there while he had been unconscious and watched him heal, but he had had also had a clear view of his chest, and his legs. The connotation of those sort of thoughts were not things that Ryan particularly wanted to be dealing with at the moment, since Eric was still in his house so he tried to concentrate on the fact that his floor was probably still covered in blood right now. Ryan was glad that his floors were wooden, it meant he could pry up each plank and clean under it, where the blood had probably seeped through by now.

Pulling on some clean pants and not even needing to glance around to know that he had no clean shirts in his bathroom Ryan took a deep breath and exited the room. He almost head-butted Eric as he did so and had to do a double-take.

"What are you doing?" He asked somewhat harshly, conscious of his half-naked state and Eric's proximity to him.

"You were taking a long time, I thought you might have climbed out of the window to escape answering my questions." Eric replied casually.

"Sure because my neighbours probably wouldn't notice me jumping out of my window. They're probably all wondering what happened now because of you shooting me." Ryan muttered angrily.

"It's not as if the fall would stop you from getting up and walking away." Eric shot back.

Ryan scowled, pushing past Eric to head for his wardrobe and find a clean shirt to wear. "I needed to make sure I was properly clean Delko." He lied.

"Oh so it had nothing to do with the conversation you had with daddy?" Eric inquired.

Ryan whirled around to face Eric, his face contorted in anger. "You were eavesdropping? What so you followed me to the bathroom so you could listen to what I did? To see if there was some magic involved in my healing process? To see if I had to dig the bullets you fired into me out of my skin?" He yelled. He advanced on Eric who held his ground. He had left his gun in the living room, he already had all the proof he needed now of Ryan's inhumanity but that fact alone made him wary of his colleague. Eric didn't know whether Ryan possessed super strength to go with his ability to heal faster than humans should and he didn't want to find out.

"I just want to know what's going on Wolfe." Eric said softly as Ryan reached him and glared up at him. It was the one advantage that Eric felt he had, extra height over Ryan.

"So you thought you'd eavesdrop…typical really isn't it? Curiosity is a killer Delko." Ryan noted.

"Please just tell me what's going on." Eric requested.

"I will, while I clean up my living room." Ryan insisted, forgoing putting on a shirt at the thought of the blood and pushing past Eric to head into his living room and clean up. He was surprised to find that the floor was clean. His eyes, sharpened to find the smallest specks of dirt after years of dealing with his OCD, spotted small droplets of blood still soaked into the wood, but it was evident Eric had tried.

"Yeah I cleaned it up for you." Eric admitted as he joined Ryan. "It's probably not as thorough as you'd like but I thought I could take a little stress off you."

"Oh. Thanks Delko."

Ryan was extremely surprised and slightly touched at Eric's actions and swallowed down his urge to fall to his knees and clean just as thoroughly as he'd like to. He knew despite what Eric said he had only cleaned it up so that he could find out what was going on quicker but it was a nice gesture nonetheless. Ryan sat on one end of his couch and when the leather stuck to his bare skin he became acutely aware that his entire upper-body was on show for Eric, but the other man wasn't looking at him. He had taken a seat on the opposite end of the couch and was looking at his hands as if he were nervous.

"Alright then." Ryan began and Eric looked right at him. "Well you've probably guessed that I'm not human."

Eric snorted with laughter and rolled his eyes but Ryan ignored him. He had never had to explain this to anyone before, and had only ever heard his father explain it once and he had only been young at the time. He was nervous about Eric's reaction.

"I don't know what to say about what I am," Ryan continued, breaking eye contact with Eric and staring down at his hands. "I'm not sure if there is actually a name for what I am, for what my family is. I'm immortal, no attempt on my life would ever succeed, even if you chopped off my head or dismembered me or anything. Well I assume that's true but that's never been done before."

"Wolfe!" Eric interrupted. Ryan glanced at him and found him torn between glaring and smirking. "You're rambling." He stated calmly.

"Oh right. Well. I've never had to explain this before okay? I don't know what to say." Ryan muttered, embarrassed. "I guess I should say that I…we…my family and any others like me…have the ability to heal other people. We can…take their wounds and make them ours, healing them and obviously since we heal quickly we'll be okay. I will be alive forever, there is no way for me to end my life, even if I wanted to." Ryan trailed off as Eric's brow furrowed in thought.

"Is that what happened to me?" He asked after a moment. "Did you take my wound from me and heal me?"

Ryan shook his head. "My dad did it. I've never done it before so he offered."

"Why?" Eric asked, his voice low but Ryan could not tell whether he was angry.

"Well I heard Horatio talking about how you'd asked for Marisol. I was worried about what would happen if you had to go through her death twice. And I wasn't sure how far back your memory failure went, you could have forgotten Speedle died-." Ryan stopped suddenly as he mentioned because anger passed over Eric's face. He didn't like speaking of Speedle with Ryan for two reasons, one, Ryan didn't know Speedle and therefore had not right talking about him and two, it made Eric feel guilty because he had given Ryan a really hard time because he had seen him as a replacement for Speedle.

"So you got your dad to cure me." Eric stated darkly.

"We didn't cure you Eric, you aren't diseased." Ryan snapped. Eric had wanted an explanation and Ryan had been nothing but truthful, even if the thought of Speedle hadn't exactly been a concern of his until that very moment.

"Wait you can cure people and nothing at all would kill you…" Eric muttered, his brow furrowing again.

Ryan knew before Eric said anything exactly what his friend was going to say. Marisol had been diseased, she had had cancer and Ryan could have cured it, if he had wanted to. He could have helped Marisol when she had been shot and ensured her survival. Eric was trying to process that and Ryan's mouth went dry, wondering what Eric's reaction would be and if he would become violent.

"Ryan why don't you use this power, this gift you have?" Eric inquired. His voice was void of emotion so Ryan couldn't gauge Eric's thoughts.

"I can't." He replied shortly.

"Why not?"

"Why do you think Eric? What do you think would happen if I just walked into an ER and healed every single person in there? Or if I revealed I could heal cancer or HIV or any of those horrible things?" Ryan demanded.

"You'd be famous for one." Eric pointed out.

"I'd be a freak!" Ryan spat. "Everybody would want me for my abilities and nobody would want to know me for any other reasons. I'd be a slave of humanity, used to save the entire human race."

"Do you have such little faith in humanity?" Eric inquired.

"Don't talk to me like that!" Ryan hissed. "I trust the few people on Earth that I know I can and you should be thankful you're one of them after what you did today! My father warned me that if I was ever found out that I would have to leave Miami. I love it here. I love my friends, my job! If it ever got out that I could do any of the things I could I would have to leave."

Eric was rather taken aback by the harshness of Ryan's tone and he went silent. Mulling over what he had just suggested he could see why it would seem selfish to Ryan. He really wanted to ask why Ryan hadn't used his powers to save Marisol, but the answers would have been the same. Ryan had made it clear that nobody could ever know or he would disappear entirely from the world. Eric didn't want Ryan to disappear, but he couldn't help but feel angry, no sad, that there had been a way to save Marisol.

"Eric," Ryan began and Eric looked up abruptly. He wasn't used to Ryan using his first name and it sounded strange on his friends lips. "You cannot tell anyone of this."

Eric said nothing and something close to desperation appeared in Ryan's eyes.

"Please Eric I'm serious!" He exclaimed, "You cannot tell anyone. Not H, no one. My dad-."

"Is serious about making him come home if this news ever got out." Another voice finished and Ryan jumped up to find Esteban stood by the front door to his flat, Ryan's mother stood next to him, both with their arms folded. Eric stood too, a little thrown. The last time he had seen Ryan's father he had had white hair and a beard but now he had disguised himself to look younger and Eric had no idea who this man was.

"Dad I-." Ryan began but Esteban cut him off with one look. Ryan's mother moved forward towards her son and embraced Ryan.

"I understand that my son is something of an enigma to you, Eric Delko, to the extent that you had to shoot him to prove to yourself that there was something off with him." Esteban began as Ryan's mother began to explore Ryan for wounds as Ryan tried to explain that he was fine.

"I am sorry about that Wolfe." Eric said.

Esteban laughed humourlessly. "Sorry or not you still shot my son. And if you ever, ever tell anyone about Ryan I will reverse what I did for you."

"Dad!" Ryan cried.

"Do you think threatening me is going to keep me quiet?" Eric growled. Ryan could see this was not going to end well. Eric had a horrible temper and his father baiting him was not a good idea, even if Esteban knew Eric could do nothing to him.

"Stop this Esteban." Ryan's mother broke in soothingly. "Threatening the poor boy is going to get us nowhere. Surely we should be appealing to his love for Ryan then his fear of being injured?" She inquired.

Ryan froze. He looked from his mother to Esteban and then to Eric. Eric looked confused, he had no idea what Ryan's mother was referring to but Ryan was sure that his mother was going to reveal his feelings for Eric, assuming that Eric felt the same way.

"My love for Ryan?" Eric asked.

"First, I believe introductions are in order." Ryan's mother said with a smile. "My name is, for now at least, Francesca. I am Ryan's mother."

Eric took the hand that 'Francesca' offered him in slightly shock. Esteban made no move to re-introduce himself so Francesca did so for him.

"My husband Esteban, Ryan's father." She supplied. Esteban offered Eric his hand after Francesca elbowed him and Eric shook it nervously.  
"Ryan you obviously know. And you are Eric Delko. Yes we know you, we've heard about you from Ryan. Now, Eric, please keep what you know about Ryan, and us of course, to yourself. I mean, I'm sure your love for Ryan as your partner is enough for you to be willing to do so?" Francesca asked softly.

"My love as his partner?" Eric repeated. "I'm not Ryan's partner." He said as Ryan said "He's not my partner mum."

"But Ryan, Esteban made it clear to me that you loved Eric here. Surely that love is returned?" Francesca inquired.

"No mum!" Ryan snapped. "Will you two just go away please? I had this situation under control."

Francesca frowned. She knew Ryan well and she was aware of how she may have inadvertently outed him to Eric because she had been misinformed. Esteban opened his mouth to argue with Ryan but Francesca pinched his skin hard between her nails and his words turned to a pained gasp.

"Of course honey." She said, "Call us if you need anything."

Esteban turned to leave when Francesca pulled his arm and Eric was sure he heard her mutter "I told you this was a bad idea," as they left and pulled the door shut. Had he heard correctly? Was Ryan in love with him? Eric wasn't quite sure how to process that information. He had never thought about Ryan like that, had merely assumed that any person that had Ryan would be lucky, he could be a great guy. A tense silence had fallen between them and Ryan was shifting nervously on his feet, head down, eyes firmly focused on the floor.

"I should go." Eric eventually mumbled. Ryan's eyes snapped to him and he smiled wryly.

"I'm sorry about my parents." He muttered.

"Don't worry about it," Eric replied, his voice tight. He had had a lot of information dumped on him in the space of about ten minutes and he was having trouble processing it. Ryan took his tone as disgust and had to bite back a sigh of disappointment. "I won't tell anyone Wolfe." Eric added before heading over to the table and grabbing his gun. Ryan opened his flat door for Eric and the Cuban didn't even look at him as he left. Ryan closed the door behind Eric with a sigh and lent heavily against it. He had a feeling that his work relationship with Eric was going to take a few backwards steps now, if Eric's reaction at his mother's words was anything to go by. It was a shame, they had just become friends as well and Ryan wanted it to at least stay that way.

Moving forward from the door Ryan grabbed a cloth, some wood polish, a spray bottle of bleach and filled a bowl with warm, soapy water. Placing them all down next to the part of the floor that had been covered in his blood Ryan grabbed a knife from the counter and knelt down on the floor, resolving to put the issue of Eric out of his mind until he had to deal with him tomorrow.


	5. Departure

Summary:

Three months pass from Eric finding out that Ryan loved him and relations between the two CSIs grow unbearable, not only for them but for the team. Ryan decides to take action and tells Horatio that he's leaving and lies about his reason. When Eric finds out he goes to Ryan's flat to try and talk to him, but will Ryan listen to him?

Notes:

So it's been a while since I updated but I was in the thick of my exams so yeah, here is the next chapter. I know I'm not really focusing on cases but I will when, or if, Eric and Ryan get their relationship sorted out. I didn't really feel very motivated for this chapter so it sort of drags a bit but I just wanted to get it finished.  
Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Eric wasn't exactly surprised when he realised that Ryan was avoiding him. The day directly after the revelations was a particularly tense one, mostly because Ryan had realised he was actually really annoyed that Eric had shot him. Whenever they interacted Ryan would give short, snappy answers and would do his very best to ignore Eric completely if they were stuck in a lab together. It wasn't long before Calleigh, Natalia and Horatio had all noticed that something was wrong between them. Even Alexx knew something was wrong because Ryan had snapped at her when she had mentioned Eric – although he had apologised quickly after he had spoken and offered her a rather sheepish smile – and Eric had grimaced when Ryan was mentioned. Their relationship had become what it had been when Ryan had first joined the lab and Eric resented him as Speedle's replacement.

Eric found himself getting angry over the way Ryan was treating him. Surely it was obvious that he'd be curious over the fact that Ryan could get shot and walk away without even a scar – something he had noticed when he had been watching the wound on Ryan's stomach heal – and Ryan had been evasive. To the entire lab his recovery was much more amazing because every single one of them believed that Ryan had been wearing a vest. And to top it all off Eric now knew that Ryan loved him, according to his mother at least. Well what was he supposed to think? Sure he had experimented with guys, but that had been back when he was a teenager and Eric was definitely sure he liked women. He didn't have anything against men liking men, but it did make him feel uncomfortable knowing that Ryan loved him – or thought he did – and that definitely didn't help the situation. Eric found that he would continually glance over his shoulder to make sure that Ryan wasn't staring at him, checking him out or daydreaming. It was stupid really, with Ryan as angry as he seemed to be there was no way he was staring at Eric when he seemed to be going out of his way to avoid him. But still, Eric found it hard to accept that a man loved him. He couldn't explain it to himself without thinking he sounded homophobic, but he really wasn't. He had gay friends, had been to gay night clubs and occasionally flirted back with the men that had come onto him, but it had never led anywhere. Eric was sure that Natalia still liked him, even though that relationship was done and he had an inkling that there might be strong feelings for him coming from Calleigh, but it just felt different knowing it was a man this time. Maybe it was because he didn't have experience with loving a man? He couldn't explain it and he wasn't about to explain it either.

After a week or so Ryan's anger seemed to have faded and he didn't avoid Eric as much – even if he wouldn't look him in the eye – which Eric was thankful for. Horatio hadn't been impressed by how they had both been acting and Eric was sure that if it had continued both he and Ryan would have been chastised by their boss.

Things however, did not get any better with Ryan and during the next month or so Ryan seemed jittery and jumpy around Eric and his OCD was acting up more than usually. If Eric moved one little thing in Ryan's lab from the place Ryan had put it Ryan's jaw would clench and he would pause in whatever he was doing to move it back. The glass tables of his lab sparkled, as did the walls and the technology within it.

Two months passed and Eric spent the two months trying to figure out what had the younger CSI so spooked around him alone.

_He's afraid_, Eric realised one night as he changed in the locker room after clocking out for the night. It had been a long day and everyone was tired but Ryan had stayed behind and requested to talk to Horatio. _He's afraid that I'm going to tell someone his secrets. That's why he's been so jumpy around me particularly._

He wasn't sure how he felt knowing that he had such power over Ryan, especially when Ryan wasn't human, but he was sure now that he definitely wanted to talk this out with Ryan because it was not good for their relationship, especially when Ryan flinched away from a simple clap on the shoulder that wouldn't have previously bothered him and seemed to shrink into himself whenever Eric came up in conversation.

Ryan stood by the door of the locker room, half hidden in shadows, watching Eric contemplate something deeply. He wished he had listened to Esteban now. Not only had he fallen in love with his colleague and a friend but he had given Eric extreme leverage over him. He could do anything to Ryan now, order Ryan to do anything and Ryan would have to do it or risk having his secret revealed. People would laugh first, they'd assume Eric was having problems because of the bullet still lodged in his brain, but then they'd start to notice things that backed up what Eric had said, or Eric would do something extreme to prove it to them. Ryan knew he could not live like this anymore. Holding back a sigh he turned his back on Eric and walked off to find Horatio.

Eric glanced around when he thought he heard footsteps but found nobody there. He felt a strange case of déjà vu, that someone he knew had been silently watching him but was gone when he looked for them. That had happened in hospital, he had known that his friends had been there but each time he had woken up he had been alone.

"I believe you wanted to see me, Ryan?" Horatio posed his words as a question but Ryan knew it was a statement.

"Yeah H I did." Ryan murmured. He had asked Esteban to meet him here and he cast a furtive glance around to see if he had arrived yet. The lift arrived as he looked at it and Ryan had to suppress a jump. Typically Esteban arrived just when Ryan needed him for his father was exiting the lift. Looking around Esteban spotted Ryan and headed for him, smiling politely at Horatio when he entered the office.  
"Horatio, this is my father, Esteban Wolfe." Ryan continued.

Esteban held a hand out to Horatio and his smile became warm and charming. Horatio inclined his head as he shook Esteban's hand and Ryan wasn't exactly surprised to see that Esteban's small use of charm did not work on Horatio.

"Horatio Caine, my son speaks very highly of you." Esteban said and Ryan fought back a blush.

"It's a shame I cannot say the same," Horatio replied smoothly. Esteban cast a glance at Ryan and though it did not show on his face Ryan knew he was asking whether he had bad-mouthed him to his boss.  
"That is to say that Ryan has rarely mentioned you to me at all." Horatio supplied to clarify what he meant and Esteban shook his head with a fond smile.

"Horatio there is something I need to tell you." Ryan blurted out. If he didn't tell Horatio now he never would and if there was anyone he could trust with his secret it was Horatio. Horatio gestured for them both to take a seat as Esteban threw Ryan a warning look. Ryan ignored it and sat, Esteban following gracefully.

"I'm all ears Ryan." Horatio said, eyes switching between Esteban – who was trying to look calm and collected but the angry warning still blazed in his eyes – and Ryan – who was extremely nervous and not a little sad at his decision.

"Well I'm not sure if you knew this but I'm gay." Ryan began. Esteban very nearly did not manage to hold back a strangled noise of surprise even if he did manage to keep a blank face. Horatio took the information better than Esteban, who knew Ryan was gay but had not expected that to be the thing he was admitting to Horatio.

"I was not aware Ryan." Horatio murmured. "But it is a not a problem."

"Well the thing is it's become one." Ryan disagreed. "Recently I thought that I had been receiving signals from Delko that he was interested in me, fleeting things, I'll spare you the details of it but I was wrong." He continued.

Horatio raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to speak.

"Please H, I'm not finished." Ryan added hastily, "Delko didn't do anything wrong, he was just a bit surprised and now I feel he isn't very comfortable working around me because of that and I feel a little ostracised. Um, I don't want anything to happen to Delko because of this, it's my fault really, I know relationships within the lab aren't exactly approved of, but I was just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving."

Horatio had not been expecting Ryan to say that and for a moment he was silent as he processed what Ryan had said. Ryan looked down into his lap when he was done. It was all lies, well, mostly lies, but Ryan did not feel comfortable working in the lab with someone that held so much power over him, it would be better for him to leave.

"This is…unexpected and sad to say the least Ryan." Horatio finally said, "And I can say that you will definitely be missed if you do decide to leave." Ryan wasn't sure if he was disappointed that Horatio wasn't fighting for him to stay but really, he wasn't surprised. Horatio wouldn't show what he was really feeling, not yet anyway, and he would accept Ryan's decision, especially after the reasons he had given.  
"I want you to know Ryan that if you ever decide to return to us there will always be a place for you in this lab. No questions asked, if you want to return the job will be yours." Horatio added.

"Can you do that?" Esteban inquired. Ryan turned his head to look at his father with one eyebrow raised. He assumed Horatio could do that somehow or he wouldn't suggest it, but Esteban didn't actually know Horatio or anything to do with the politics of the Crime Lab.

Horatio smiled. "Of course I can. Ryan is a very good CSI and I hope that one day he'll be comfortable enough to return to us. The lab won't be the same without him."

Esteban smiled and only Ryan could see the sadness behind it. Esteban was happy that Ryan had found a place to fit in, even if it was in a world he didn't belong in but he was sad also, because Ryan would have to watch it all decay and die around him without changing.

"Is it okay if I leave now H?" Ryan asked.

"Absolutely Ryan." Horatio replied swiftly. "I'll send you the paperwork and you can send it back. It'll take a week or so, please don't leave Miami in that time. I'll have to ask for you badge and weapon."

"They're in my locker." Ryan informed him. Horatio nodded. "I'll be at my dad's house." Ryan continued.

"I'll give you the address." Esteban put in. Horatio handed him a pen and paper and Esteban scribbled down the address he was staying in with Ryan's mother.

"Please don't tell anyone the address Horatio. I'll say my own goodbyes." Ryan requested.

"I won't tell anyone Ryan. Good luck wherever you go." Horatio murmured. Ryan stood, Esteban followed and Horatio eventually joined them. Ryan held out his hand and Horatio shook it firmly, meeting Ryan's eyes and the young ex-CSI was shocked to see the sadness in them. He didn't want to upset Horatio, but he knew that what he had experienced over the last couple of months would probably continue on and on and he couldn't live like that, or work like that. Eric had power over him now and Ryan couldn't deal with that. The entire Crime Lab would be affected by his and Eric's relationship; it was just the way that they dealt with their anger around each other.

"Goodbye for now Horatio." Ryan said, holding back tears at Horatio's sad smile.

"Goodbye Ryan." Horatio replied.

Esteban held the office door open for Ryan and then shook Horatio's hand before following his son out of the office and down the stairs. Ryan was silent but Esteban could see he was tense and he knew that Ryan wanted to cry.

"Do you want me to drive you home?" He asked quietly.

Ryan shook his head.

"There is one person I need to speak to." He replied. He would call Calleigh, he didn't think he could face her to tell her the same lies he had told Horatio. He was sure Horatio didn't believe him anyway but he had accepted his excuse but Calleigh, well Ryan was sure that Calleigh wouldn't accept that excuse and would want more information. Alexx, however, was a person he needed to tell face to face or she would never let him hear the end of it.

"Is it that medical woman?" Esteban asked, following close behind Ryan as he entered the locker room, luckily empty now, and watched as Ryan opened his locker and gathered the few belongings he kept in there, leaving his guns and badge in there for Horatio to collect.

"Her name is Alexx." Ryan snapped.

"Yes Alexx, she came to see you when you first got out of hospital." Esteban said softly.

"She did?" Ryan asked.

"Yes. She was waiting at your apartment." Esteban informed his son.

Ryan smiled. Typical Alexx, trying to make sure that he was okay.

"Well I want to tell her face to face." Ryan said. Esteban nodded and followed Ryan again as he left the locker room and headed towards the morgue. The lab was full of the night-shift CSIs and they gave Esteban and Ryan strange looks as they walked through the lab but both Esteban and Ryan ignored them.

Luckily for Ryan, Alexx was still down in the morgue cleaning up. She smiled widely when she saw Ryan enter and went to welcome him when she saw Esteban. Recognition flashed briefly in her eyes, but Esteban knew she wasn't entirely sure because he had had a beard and white hair last time she had seen him.

"What's going on honey?" Alexx asked.

"I believe you've met my dad, Esteban Wolfe." Ryan began.

Alexx's eyes widened and she looked at Esteban with a sceptical expression. "And where is your beard and white hair?" She demanded of him.

"My dad is somewhat of an actor." Ryan interjected quickly before Esteban could say anything. Alexx and Esteban looked at him with twin expressions of disbelief. Ryan knew it was a rather lame excuse but he couldn't think of anything else.  
"He works in the theatre, it's not very well known but it's a theatre that specialises in Greek plays, tragedy, comedy, satirical-." Ryan continued before Alexx laughed and shook her head.

"Only a devoted father would go and get his son out of hospital wearing full beard and white hair from a play." She laughed.

Ryan laughed too, though the sound did not contain any humour. Esteban merely smiled.

"He was playing a member of the chorus." Ryan added rather lamely to try and explain the beard.

"When I got the call that Ryan had been shot I was half way through getting changed back into my normal clothes. The beard and the hair come off last because they have to put a glue dissolving liquid on both of them and let them work while we get changed. You should come to a show sometime." Esteban explained smoothly, flashing Alexx with a charming smile. His charm worked on Alexx more than it had on Horatio and she smiled warmly at him.

"Well that explains a lot." She said, "Now, why are you down here sugar?" She directed her question at Ryan who had been looking around the morgue sadly.

"I have news." He began when Esteban cleared his throat.

"Oh?"

"I'm…I'm leaving." Ryan blurted out.

"What?" Alexx asked, incredulously, "You fooling with me?"

"No Alexx I'm really leaving. The reasons are kind of personal and I'm afraid you'll overreact if you knew." Ryan said firmly, "But I'm going. I can't work here anymore. Horatio said that if I want to I can return and the job will be mine, but for now I can't stay here."

"Ryan honey," Alexx began to say but Ryan shook his head.

"I'm sorry Alexx."

Alexx did not try to say anything but merely folded Ryan into a hug and squeezed him tightly. Ryan hugged her back just as tightly. Alexx kissed Ryan's forehead and grasped either side of his face and stared him straight in the eye.

"Is this to do with Eric?" She asked quietly.

Not surprised that she knew Ryan smiled, "He might be a part of it." He admitted.

"If he did something to you Ryan-." Alexx began and Ryan shook his head vigorously.

"No Alexx he didn't do anything." He said forcefully.

Esteban managed to turn a snort of disbelief into a cough but Ryan ignored him. Alexx still seemed suspicious and unhappy about the whole situation but she wasn't about to argue with Ryan, it was clear he had made up his mind.

"You keep in touch, you hear me? I don't want you to disappear off the face of the Earth." Alexx ordered as they pulled out of the hug completely and Ryan went to stand next to Esteban.

"Don't worry Alexx I've got your number, I won't just disappear. I'm staying in Miami for about a week anyway, Horatio is going to send me all the paperwork." He informed her and Alexx smiled warmly.

"I'm going to miss you baby." She murmured and went over to Ryan to give him another crushing hug. Ryan returned it again and blinked back his tears.

"I'm going to miss you too Alexx. I swear if I feel up to coming back here I will Alexx, I swear." Ryan promised her.

"I know sugar. You come and visit." She told him.

Ryan nodded, a lump forming in his throat as he saw Alexx blinking back tears of her own.

"I'll make sure he'll come and visit." Esteban piped up and smiled reassuringly at Alexx who returned the smile half-heartedly.  
"Come on Ryan, let's get you home." Esteban continued and wrapped an arm around Ryan's shoulders before leading him out of the morgue.

Ryan did not speak as Esteban led him to his car and pushed him into the passenger seat. He wordlessly held out his keys for Esteban to take, fastened his seatbelt and turned his face to stare out of the window.

"Ryan-." Esteban began.

"Don't. Don't tell me that I should have listened to you all along." Ryan snapped with his voice thick as he still fought his tears.

"I wasn't going to say that." Esteban said softly. "I was going to offer my help, in any way I could. I know you really like the life you've built for yourself here and it is partially your mother's fault that it has to end, for now at least. We should have realised that this Delko did not have feelings for you or you both would have probably acted on them by now, but you know how your mother can get."

"Yeah I know." Ryan sighed. "Look it's for the best really isn't it? Eric knows what I am, he has a power over me that he shouldn't have and I can't stay near him knowing that if he wanted to he could use that hold over me. And knowing that he knows I love him and the way he looks at me now…it's too much to bear. I know it's for the best, I know you think it's for the best and I'm willing to leave."

Esteban did not reply, glancing at his son to see him wiping tears from his eyes.

"We'll stay in Miami for the week it takes you to fill out the paperwork and then we'll take you back home to try and help you forget about what happened here." Esteban eventually said. Ryan made a strangled noise in reply and Esteban knew that that symbolised that the conversation was over.

/

Eric wondered why Ryan's lab was empty when he came into work the following morning. Maybe the other CSI was ill or out on a call, but they usually got sent out on calls together. Calleigh appeared from the break room so Eric made a bee-line for her to ask her if she knew where Ryan was. When he reached her the look she gave him told Eric that she was not impressed with him, but he couldn't think of anything that he had done that could have annoyed her that much. Well his attitude around Ryan hadn't exactly been brilliant recently, but it wasn't his entire fault.

"Hey Calleigh," He began to say but she held up her hand to stop him. Feeling affronted Eric was about to snap at her when he turned and saw Horatio approaching them and he realised why she had made him stop.

"I need to talk to you both." Horatio murmured and beckoned for them to follow him to his office.

"Horatio I got a call from Ryan, what's going on?" Calleigh asked as they walked quickly.

"I'll explain in a minute Calleigh." Horatio replied.

Eric glanced at Calleigh but she didn't look back at him. What had Ryan told her? Had he told her about what Eric had done to him? No, he couldn't have, he made Eric swear not to tell anyone so there is no way he'd tell Calleigh. He stepped back so she could enter Horatio's office before him and took a seat when she did.

"What did Ryan tell you on the phone Calleigh?" Horatio asked quietly.

"He said he was leaving the lab." She replied immediately.

"What?!" Eric demanded. Both Horatio and Calleigh ignored him.

"Ryan came to me last night before he went home and told me that for personal reasons that he can no longer work in this lab. I wanted to inform both of you personally, but evidently Ryan felt it important to tell you Calleigh. He also told Alexx." Horatio informed them and both Eric and Calleigh noticed that Horatio was rambling a little bit. In the time Ryan had been there at the lab they had all grown close to him, eventually, when they had all accepted him and Horatio was evidently sad to see Ryan go.

Eric was angry that Ryan had not told him personally when he had told Horatio, Calleigh and Alexx, but a part of him was not surprised. The months after Ryan's revelation had been rocky for them, their relationship had not been perfect and Eric knew the majority of the blame fell on him because of how he had reacted to the information he had been so desperate to learn.

"Calleigh there is a body down in the morgue that I need you to go and help Alexx process. Natalia and I gathered all the evidence from the scene this morning so she can fill you in on the scene on the way down." Horatio finally spoke again and Calleigh nodded as she stood and left the room without even a backwards glance.

Eric made to stand as well but Horatio fixed him with his piercing stare. "I did not dismiss you Eric." He said quietly.

"What is it H?" Eric asked.

"Ryan made a few accusations against you Eric." Horatio admitted, his voice still quiet and Eric's eyes widened. Had Ryan told Horatio everything that had happened between them? Was he in trouble for shooting Ryan? That was a stupid question, if Ryan had told Horatio that Eric had shot him he'd have been arrested by now.

"Whatever he said I did, I didn't." Eric said when Horatio's words had settled in.

"I'm not here to judge that Eric, I don't want another mess for this crime lab." Horatio replied, "But I just want you to know that if you have a problem with Mr. Wolfe you need to sort that out within the week, his father informed me that they are leaving Miami as soon as the paperwork is sorted out between me and Ryan. He assured me that one day he may return here to come back to work and it would be easier for him to return if there was nothing hanging between you." He continued.

Eric nodded and made to leave the room. Horatio did not say anything to stop him this time, but he watched as Eric left his office and stood for a moment before hurrying to the lift and jabbing at the button to call one. Horatio smiled. Eric did not have his permission to leave as such, but he was glad that the man was taking action.

Eric's head was spinning a little when he finally got to his car. What was he thinking? He couldn't just turn up at Ryan's door, the other CSI was sure not to see him. Why had he implicated him in the reasons why he was leaving? Was it his dad? Was Esteban forcing Ryan to leave his job and given him the reasons to give? It wouldn't surprise Eric, Esteban had said that he would force Ryan to move if it ever got out what he was. Eric hadn't said a word though, he was the only one who knew so what was going on? He had to speak to Ryan.

Getting in his car Eric tried to swallow down the anger he was feeling at Ryan's implications. Horatio may have not told him the details but he could guess from the disapproval in Horatio's tone. Taking deep breaths Eric concentrated on his driving and getting the directions right to Ryan's apartment building. The younger man's car was not outside, but Eric didn't give that much thought, there was a car there he didn't recognise and something told him that it belonged to Esteban. It was bigger than the car Ryan drove and was full of boxes. Ryan was moving and he was using his father's car. Eric pulled up alongside this car and slammed his own car door once he had climbed out. He wasn't doing a very good job of controlling his anger so he decided to take the stairs up to Ryan's apartment to give him a little more time to calm down; he did not want to fight with Ryan.

The door to Ryan's apartment was ajar so Eric went in straight away, it wasn't as if he were a stranger and he ignored the part of him that told him he was the one person Ryan probably did not want to see. Boxes of Ryan's belongings were lined neatly up by the door, so typical of Ryan to be such a neat mover, Eric thought wryly with a small smile. The living room and kitchen were both empty so Eric moved on to check Ryan's bedroom and bathroom.

Nothing.

Ryan would not leave his door ajar unless he was there, Eric was sure of that since the CSI was too methodical for his own good so the only thing Eric could guess was that Ryan had seen him coming and was hiding from his somewhere.

"Look if you're here Ryan I just want to talk to you." Eric called out.

Ryan was indeed there, he was above Eric, his hands and feet pressed hard against either wall of the corridor that connected his bedroom and living room, his back pressed against the roof. He was glad he had the upper body strength for this, he didn't want to fall and let Eric know the extent he had gone to just to avoid him.

"H told me that you're leaving and it has something to do with me. I wanted to say I'm sorry." Eric continued.

Ryan blinked in surprise. He had expected Eric to come and find him to shout at him for lying to Horatio, especially considering what he had said about Eric. He had not expected an apology from the man.

"Wolfe come on, I don't want you to leave Miami with things bad between us." Eric tried again and began wondering if Ryan was indeed even there. Everything Eric knew about Ryan pointed to the CSI being here but what did Eric really know about him? The first time he had seen Ryan's dad he had had a white beard and white hair and yet he had changed his appearance so easily. What if their personalities were the same and Ryan was just acting?

Sighing Eric dug through his pockets and found one of his business cards. It would do for his purpose. Pulling a pen from a different pocket Eric began to scribble an apology and a wish to meet Ryan before he left Miami so they could sort things out. As Eric was busy with that Ryan slowly climbed down from where he was pressed to the ceiling, holding his breath as the walls creaked from the pressure. Eric did not look up, too busy writing his note so when he looked up and saw Ryan standing behind him, running a hand through his hair and looking rather out of breath he jumped out of his skin and cursed. Ryan held back a smile as he regarded his Cuban colleague.

"Ryan, I've been calling you where were you?" Eric asked.

"Ignoring you and hoping you'd go away." Ryan replied, avoiding answering the actual question as to where he had been.

"Well you can't scare me away that easily Wolfe." Eric smirked, though anger was still coursing through his veins.

Ryan shook his head. "You said you wanted to make things right before I leave. How are you doing to do that?"

Eric took a breath and rubbed at his eyes with his hands.

"I'm going to apologise to your face for everything I did. Shooting you, treating you how I have for the past couple of months, everything." Eric began.

"Yeah Eric the time has passed for an apology alone to make things right." Ryan interrupted before Eric could continue with what he wanted to say.  
"Seriously." He maintained when Eric raised an eyebrow at him.

"So what exactly do you want me to do?" Eric inquired.

"I don't know Eric." Ryan said. "I don't know. Maybe cut the crap, stop treating me like you have and perhaps take me out for a dinner before I leave." He suggested with a smile.

"Seriously?"


	6. Speedle

Summary:

A year has passed since Ryan left Miami and Eric has carried on living as normally as possible. However the newest case that Eric is working takes an interesting turn when he sees Speedle, who has been dead for a long time. This 'chance encounter' ends up helping Eric more than he thought and after seeing Ryan for the first time in a year, albeit only for five minutes, Eric is determined to figure out his feelings and hope Ryan is still interested.

Notes:

This chapter is kind of an interlude in the story, even though it's the longest chapter I think. It sort of deals with episode 6.4, and generally follows that canon, but with a bit of a twist on the ending.

. /alpe-d-huez/chalet-altiport/fact-file  
Follow this link for more info on the Chalet that Ryan is staying in.

Hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

~One year later.~

Calleigh approached Eric and asked him to get her up to date with the case details so far and Eric did, explaining that there was one dead and one critical. The two of them joked a lot but then as Eric looked past her as she observed the burnt out car standing on the beach he saw Speedle stood there, quite a way away from the crime scene, looking at him. Speedle was dead, Eric remembered that quite clearly, he remembered the call, he remembered the funeral, he remembered everything. There was no way Speedle was there. But he could see him stood there.

Eric stood slowly and Calleigh, concerned by the look on his face, turned to look at the spot where he was. She saw nothing.

Turning back to Eric, Calleigh observed him with concern.

"Are you okay?" She inquired.

Eric took a moment to compose an answer. Speedle could not be there, he was dead.

"Yeah, nah I'm fine." He eventually said.

Calleigh did not look convinced. It was probably the slight frown that Eric wore that did not sell it to her.

"You don't look fine." She said, her face showing her scepticism at Eric's answer. Could this be to do with Ryan? Calleigh knew that Eric thought he was hiding it well but since Ryan had left the CSI had seemed a little lost. Perhaps it was because Ryan had taken the place of Speedle in some ways, when both Eric and Ryan had gotten over their enmity they had become extremely close and yet Ryan had left now. True, he was still alive, but he had left all the same.

"I just stood up too fast, that's all." Eric lied. The last thing he needed was for everyone to think he was going insane.

"Alright," Calleigh finally replied with a smile and did not push it further. Instead, she turned and walked away from him, around the other side of the car.

Eric glanced back to the place where he had seen Speedle and found that his friend had disappeared. Shaking his head Eric took a breath and got back to work, trying to find out what had happened to their victims.

That was until Calleigh cornered him again in the lab. Mike had dropped off the photos he had taken of the crime scene to Calleigh and the first picture was one of Eric looking shocked and slightly afraid. Eric asked her what the photos were of.

"You." She replied softly, "I thought you looked like you'd seen a ghost out there."

"Don't worry about me." Eric stated with a small sigh.

"You don't have to be embarrassed Eric. Even with your miraculous recovery and the time that has elapsed since then without a problem the doctor said that that could change." Calleigh said to reassure Eric.

For a moment Eric was confused as to what she was talking about until he realised she was referring to his bullet wound. That hadn't bothered him once, whatever Ryan's dad had done, he had done it well and Eric had suffered no side effects. He highly doubted that was the problem, but maybe, maybe it only worked well when Esteban was close to him, in Miami, and now he had gone the side effects were coming back. Why else would he be seeing Speedle? He had never hallucinated before.

"Calleigh I'm fine, I told you that wound doesn't bother me." He informed her.

"You did. It's still strange to accept that you can be perfectly fine after being shot in the head. But Eric, it's me. What did you see out there?" She asked.

Eric had to suppress a grin as Calleigh continued to push it. He should have known she would not let up about this.

"I saw evidence of arson." Eric said, trying to bring the conversation onto the case and not his own personal life. He would figure out why he was seeing Speedle alone, he didn't need anyone worrying about him.

Before Calleigh could come up with a response the computer gave them a suspect and the case moved on.

Alexx found evidence that it was a botched double suicide that killed the girl and critically injured the guy and so Horatio decided to send Eric back to the scene to find out what it was they missed.

As he walked up Eric saw Speedle standing at the opposite stretch of crime scene tape, hands in his pockets, waiting for him. Eric smiled, though it was hardly noticeable and made his way towards Speedle. It was good to see his old friend again, even if, peculiarly, seeing Speedle made him think of Ryan.

"Tim," Eric began. He was smiling properly, as was Speedle. "It was you this morning."

Speedle nodded in reply.

"It's been a long time." Eric added.

Again Speedle nodded and looked away from Eric. Just as Eric was beginning to fear that he was just hallucinating and Speedle couldn't speak the dead CSI turned back to look at him with a grin.

"Yes it has."

"Why are you here?" Eric asked. It hurt so much to see Speedle now, and talk to him. Eric could feel his heart racing with the joy but his brain was protesting. He suddenly wanted to run, to get away from Speedle and the conversation they were about to have and be alone. Speedle was dead, he was dead, there was no way Eric could talk to him. And Eric knew, he knew that if he stayed there and talked and listened to Speedle when it was over it would only hurt worse knowing that it never happened, it was never going to happen and Speedle was still lying in his cold grave.

"I figured you could use my help." Speedle said, bringing Eric from falling inside the sorrow that was building.  
"I mean, you always did right?" Speed added with another smile.

Eric laughed. It felt good to laugh, it was almost like old times when they two of them had bantered away, comparing cases, trying to decide who had the better case.

"Alright then, help. What am I missing?" Eric asked.

"What's the first thing you learn on the job?" Speedle asked.

"How to pad your time card." Eric replied. He wanted to keep the jokes going, he knew Speedle was being serious but he missed the way anything could be a joke between them, everything except the cases.

"The second thing." Speedle said as though encouraging a rookie.

Eric admitted to himself that he was a little confused about where this was going but he replied nonetheless.

"Every person who enters a crime scene brings something in and takes something away." He answered, all traces of laughter gone from his expression and tone.

"Even before we call it a scene." Speedle added.

"What are you saying, someone took evidence before we even arrived?" Eric asked. It did and had happened before, Eric knew that, but it was strange discussing this with Speedle. Speedle just looked at Eric with a soft smile on his face, eyes a little narrowed against the sea breeze.  
"Then how do I find something that's not even here?" Eric asked. Speedle had offered him help and now he was going to help him.

"Just because you can't see something, doesn't mean it's not there." Speedle replied.

Eric was about to say something in anger about Speedle talking in riddles but then it truly hit him what his friend had just said. Speedle was dead, his body was rotting but that did not mean he wasn't there. Eric remembered him and therefore Speedle lived on through that. The lab loved him, and he lived on through that. They may not talk about him, but they thought about him.  
The same went for Ryan as well. He wasn't there but Eric felt like he was. Sometimes he would turn around in the lab about to make a joke with Ryan only to find himself alone, or facing a lab tech who looked concerned and sometimes afraid. Just what was Speedle helping him with exactly?

Before Eric could say anything Speedle turned and walked away, ducking under the yellow tape and Eric, not knowing what else he could do, followed him. Speedle took up a spot on the rocks that jutted out into the sea, away from the sandy cliff Eric was stood on and when Eric looked down he found a pipe coiled up there, which he realised on closer inspection was a burnt piece of tubing. He said that out loud to himself, or was it for Speedle's benefit? The CSI must have known it was there to lead Eric to it, but how?

Eric slipped gloves on and picked up the tube.

"It's got to be from the crime scene." He murmured. "Speedle-." Eric began, standing and turning to find nobody there. Eric cast glances around desperately, trying to see where Speedle had wandered off too and found nothing, no one, he was alone.  
"Thanks for the help." He sighed.

The case after that became a little more complicated for the CSIs as they realised both victims were in debt to Liberty Coast Credit and the fact that the tube that Eric had found was used to pump carbon monoxide into the car, which meant it was murder, not suicide.

And then Calleigh found Speedle's credit card in the seatbelt fastener of a hummer.

"I knew it." Eric said, nodding his head in understanding. There was no way Speedle could be dead now, not if his credit card was in the hummer.

"What is going on?" Calleigh asked. She was even more concerned now. The case had taken many twists and turns and she was worried that Eric was indeed feeling side-effects of his wound and had been hiding them but now, now she was sure that Eric was hiding something else from her, something bigger.

"Nothing." Eric replied. He couldn't tell Calleigh he had seen Speedle. He was dead. There was no way he had survived that.

_Ryan survived a bullet wound to the chest and your shot to the stomach_. Eric had heard that small voice in his head before. It had eaten away at him when he had heard Ryan's story about how he had been wearing a vest and it had eventually driven him to shoot Ryan just to confirm that he was right. Could Speedle be like Ryan? Surely he wouldn't have hidden from them all? He couldn't have hidden from Eric, they were…or had been best friends, Speedle would have come and told him. Or would he? Ryan had left everything he loved just because Eric knew about what he was, could it be that Speedle wanted to tell him but couldn't because he was afraid of Eric's reaction, afraid that he and Eric could not have had a secret friendship?

"Look," Calleigh said rather firmly and Eric broke out of his thoughts, "Eric if we are going to be working together you have to talk to me." She said.

Eric licked his lips before glancing at her. Calleigh had a determined look on her face and Eric was sure that she would understand if he told her but something compelled him to lie to her again.

"I told you it's nothing."

"Does it have something to do with me and Jake, is there a problem?" She asked and Eric could see the hurt in her eyes at the possibility and he was almost glad that what she was suggesting was the furthest thing from the truth.

"No Calleigh, don't be ridiculous." He muttered.

"Well you've been acting strange with me all day so what else am I supposed to think?" She asked, her tone accusative now.

Eric stared hard at the steering wheel and wondered if he should tell her. He didn't want her to think he was mad at her, or upset because she had found happiness because he wasn't.

"Let's just forget about it." Was his eventual answer and mentally he kicked himself for avoiding answering her again. Calleigh was his friend, she had been Speedle's friend, she would understand.  
"Can I have Speedle's card please?" He requested.

Calleigh handed it over to him and Eric knew without looking that she was not impressed with him.

When Eric managed to be alone he got out his phone and called Miami Mutual Bank to find out what was going on and if Speedle's credit card had been used recently. The bank told him that Speedle's account had been active for two weeks but was stumped when he was asked for a password which would allow him further information.

He did not really have much time to dwell on it because they found out that their female victim had been sleeping with the manager of the Credit Company that she was in debt with. Approaching him at the university a shooting happened and their suspect was shot to death, leaving Eric and Calleigh with even more questions than before.

And again now, Eric saw Speedle stood just outside the crime tape and he called out to him, ignoring Frank's words rather rudely, but seeing Speedle combined with the fact that his credit card was being used made Eric sure that Speedle was there and he wanted to know why his friend kept appearing and the disappearing again.

A hand touched his shoulder and Eric jumped.

"Eric," Alexx said softly, "What's going on?" The concern she felt was evident on her face and Eric looked at her as if she were mad, couldn't she see that Speedle was right there?

He lied to her just like he lied to Calleigh and found a perfect excuse when he found a leaf with a bullet hole in it. Alexx was not convinced he could tell, and she told him that if he wanted to talk he was to find her. It was a nice change, for the first month or so after Ryan had left Alexx had not been impressed with Eric, or happy to be around him and she had made it clear whenever he was there but slowly her anger had faded and they had fallen back into their old friendship. What Eric didn't know was that Calleigh had phoned Ryan and told him that Alexx had not taken him leaving well and Ryan had come back to Miami and told Alexx that she should lay off Eric, it wasn't his fault and the two of them had made peace before he left. To hear her offering to help him again made Eric want to smile despite how confused he felt inside.

Calleigh and Eric finally found the evidence that led them to the shooter and Eric found himself outside of Speedle's locker, with the door open and Speedle's badge in his hands.

That was how Horatio found him.

"You're looking in Speed's locker Eric." Horatio said to announce that he was there.

Eric glanced at him and shut the door.

Sighing Eric faced Horatio. "Out of respect I haven't touched it since he was shot." He said, "But now his wallet's missing."

Horatio did not seem fazed by this news but Eric knew his boss well enough to know that Horatio did not always react emotionally to all news.

"What do you think happened?" Horatio asked.

"Well, maybe he took it." Eric suggested. "There has been some activity on his credit card." He added.

"Eric, when someone that is important to us leaves us it can be difficult to accept they're gone." Horatio said quietly, looking up at Eric as he spoke while he messed with his sunglasses.

Eric was formulating an answer, deciding to tell Horatio what he had kept from both Calleigh and Alexx when Ryan flashed into his mind again. _Why do I keep doing that?_ Eric wondered, _this is about Speedle not Ryan. He isn't as important to me as Speedle was so why do I keep thinking about him?_

Pushing his thoughts of Ryan to the back of his mind Eric took a quiet breath.

"This is different," He informed Horatio, "I know this sounds crazy but he pointed me in the direction of that tube, he solved this case."

"You solved the case." Horatio corrected him, "You did."

Eric took a deeper breath and let it out in a sigh. Horatio did not believe him, he probably thought he was crazy, or thought that he was suffering from his bullet wound like Calleigh did.

"Eric," Horatio continued gently, "Speed is gone, he's gone."

"What if I told you I'd talked to him?" Eric asked. He was throwing all caution to the wind now, so what if Horatio thought he was crazy, maybe he was crazy. Seeing Speedle made him think of Ryan that in itself was crazy anyway.

"I'd say…" Horatio began before pausing as if he did not want to say what he was truly thinking. "I'd say that it's time to get some help."

Eric looked at Horatio, just looked at him and his emotions were all portrayed clearly on his face. Horatio thought he was crazy, Horatio thought he was suffering side effects, Horatio had let Speedle go and was pitying him because he couldn't do the same…Horatio saw the anguish in Eric's face but he knew that he was not the person that could help Eric with these feelings he was having, this confusion that was plaguing him and so he left the locker room.

Eric sat down on the bench running parallel to the lockers and put his head in his hands. What was going on? Speedle was there and then he was gone, his credit card was being used and now Horatio thought he was crazy. He didn't blame his boss for that, it was the reason he had lied to both Calleigh and Alexx but still, was it so hard for them to believe that Speedle had survived?

_Yes Eric it is,_ the little voice said, _you've seen Ryan get shot and walk away completely fine, twice now. You want to think Speedle is alive because you know that Ryan can't die. You want Speedle to be alive because you love him._

"No." Eric said out loud. "I want Speedle to be alive because I miss him. And I'm going to find out what's going on here and who is using Speed's credit card."

Horatio it seemed was in the same frame of mind and he found out exactly where Speedle's credit card was being used so Eric could find an answer and put his mind at ease.

Taking Calleigh, Eric drove to the Bay to find out what was going on. He did not like the answer. First he had a case of mistaken identity but then Calleigh found out that it was Cooper, one of their own, who had been using Speedle's credit card and Eric had lost his temper with him, but instead of taking his anger out on him he just threw Cooper's wallet back on the table and left. Calleigh remained behind.

Eric slammed the door to the bar and stalked away. Cooper had some nerve using Speedle's credit card like that. He had to go and see Speedle, properly this time, not in hallucinations at crime scenes. He didn't wait for Calleigh but he left her the hummer before hurrying to the graveyard to see Speedle's grave. He wasn't going to take Horatio's advice and see someone, there was nothing wrong with him. He was going to go and talk to Speedle. Properly.

In the cemetery Eric stood by Speedle's grave and closed his eyes, pulling up the memories of Speedle's funeral, the day he had seen him placed in the ground. When he re-opened his eyes Speedle was stood there, by his own gravestone and he was smirking.

"You helped me solve the case." Eric said softly.

"I know, that's why you were imagining me." Speedle replied.

"I could always turn to you for help Speed, so I guess I did now even though you're dead." Eric concluded. Of course he had been imagining Speedle but Cooper, Cooper had not helped at all.

"I'm not just here to help you with cases Eric." Speedle announced.

Eric looked up at him without even realising that he returned to focusing on the gravestone.

"What do you mean?" Eric asked.

"It's about Ryan too you know." Was all Speedle said.

"Huh?"

"You love him Delko, you have for a while but you've been too blind to see it. You loved me too I know you did." Speedle laughed, "But now that you're falling in love with someone else you're denying it because of me."

"But-."

"Eric." Speedle interrupted, "When you took Ryan out for dinner he kissed you and you liked it. All you can think about is Ryan, every little thing somehow reminds you of him. You've got to go and talk to him."

"How, I don't even know where he is?" Eric asked. _I've just realised I've been imagine Speedle because I needed help and now I'm arguing with him about my feelings for Ryan. Maybe I am crazy, _Eric thought as Speedle laughed again.

"You don't need to find him Eric, he'll find you."

"But I don't feel like I love him." Eric protested.

"You won't until you get a chance to feel what him loving you feels like." Speedle countered before turning to walk away.

"Don't go Speed." Eric cried.

"I have to Eric. Besides, your chance is here." Speedle said.

"Hey Delko." Another voice said and Eric turned, not really wanting to face anyone who may have overheard him talking to somebody that was not really there and he was shocked at who he saw.

Ryan stood by behind him, arms folded, face relaxed, the traces of a smile on his lips. He was dressed as if he had just come from somewhere extremely snowy, definitely not in clothes fit for the Miami weather and his hair was wet as if snow had melted in it.

Eric's heart began to race at the sight.

"Ryan…are you an hallucination too?" He asked in disbelief.

"No Eric I'm here. But I'm only here to help you." Ryan replied softly, glancing down briefly at Speedle's grave then up to where Speedle had stood only a few seconds before.

"Why does everyone assume I need help?" Eric snapped.

Ryan smiled and moved forward, reaching into the pocket of the coat he wore and withdrawing some pills.

"My dad realised that the side-effects of the bullet were beginning to affect you because he isn't here to stop it. He made these for you, they should help stop them." Ryan explained as he passed the bottle to Eric.

"What happens if I don't take them?" Eric asked.

"We'll be forced to come and save your ass again." Ryan laughed.

Eric felt exhilarated to hear Ryan laugh, it was such an amazing, beautiful sound. Could it be Speedle was right? Or was he right, since Speedle was a figment of his imagination that was his unconscious desire for Ryan.

"And when I run out?"

"I'll come back to Miami to give you more." Ryan replied softly this time. He still held the pill bottle in one hand as Eric did, so their hands were touching gently but eventually Ryan moved away and turned to walk away just as Speedle did.

"Wait Ryan!" Eric called and Ryan did, turning back to him. "Where are you living right now?"

"Here and there, we're travelling mostly but I miss Miami a lot." Ryan admitted.

"I want to keep in touch with you Ryan." Eric said bluntly and Ryan blushed a little.

"You have my phone number Eric." He pointed out.

"I want to be able to see you." Eric added. Hearing Ryan's voice would not be enough to make Eric realise if he did love him or not. Speedle was dead and he had been acting crazy recently, so he was going to carry on doing so and follow the advice of his friend. It was easier for Eric to accept that Speedle had come back as a ghost to tell him that he loved Ryan than his mind had rebelled against him and had forced him to imagine Speed just so he could believe it.

Ryan looked at him suspiciously before sighing and taking out a small notebook and a pen. He scribbled something down, tore out the page and handed it to Eric.

"That's my email address. Add me on Skype if you want to keep in touch visually." He mumbled.

"Thanks." Eric replied.

"I've got to go, my dad's waiting for me. It was nice seeing you again Eric." Ryan said quietly.

"Yeah you too." Eric agreed. He stood by Speedle's grave and watched Ryan walk away.

When Ryan was still in his sight but too far away to be noticed Horatio appeared beside Eric. Eric turned to him and smiled.

"I took your advice I guess, and talked to someone." He admitted, keeping the fact that it had been Speedle and then Ryan.

"And?" Horatio inquired.

"They said that the side-effects might be affecting me even though I had a miraculous recovery." Eric lied. "I've got some pills that should help."

"That's good Eric. Come on, I'll drive you home." Horatio offered and Eric nodded.

As they walked from the graveyard his hand was clenching the bottle of pills tightly, he could still feel the warmth of Ryan's fingers on his.

/

"I can't believe we had to fly all the way from France for this." Esteban grumbled as Ryan eventually climbed back into the car.

"I'm not listening. Get us back to Chalet Altiport and then complain at me. I reckon mum has conquered that slope by now." Ryan replied airily. Esteban did not reply but he made a noise of discontent before driving them to the airport.

He did listen to Ryan though. Throughout the flight and the journey back to Altiport in Alpe d'Huez Esteban did not say a single thing unless it was necessary – like asking Ryan to slow down when they got out of the car at Altiport because he couldn't walk over the snow as well as his son – and when they were finally back in the Chalet they had rented, the smallest size available, he sat Ryan down before going to light the log fire.

"Now, let me say it again. Why did we have to fly all the way to Miami from France just to give him some pills, we could have sent them to him." Esteban said again.

"Yeah because there is a post box around here dad." Ryan replied, head tilted back and eyes closed. He was comfortably spread across the couch in their Chalet and Esteban shook his head.

"I must say Ryan you've been very relaxed since we came skiing, why is that?" Esteban asked.

"I like skiing, I like the snow and the ski lift is fast so I don't have to think about how high I am for very long." Ryan answered.

"What has made you so happy though? You were a little sullen still even if you were relaxed before we left to see Eric Delko." Esteban pressed.

Ryan opened his eyes and eyed his father in annoyance.

"Let's just say that everything is okay between us and I may soon return to Miami." He replied before standing. "I'm going to go and shower, being in Miami in my winter clothes has made me a little sweaty."

"A little sweaty?" Esteban cried, "I felt like I was melting."

"If only you would, then I would be free from your whining. It's too cold here, how do you ski, this lift doesn't feel very stable, the Chalet is too big, Miami is too hot. All you do is whine, whine, whine." Ryan laughed as he made his way into his bedroom and closed and locked the door.

Esteban shook his head and stuck his tongue out at Ryan's retreating back because at that moment Francesca entered the room and she would have yelled at him if he had made a ruder gesture at their son.

"You're back early." Francesca said as she settled on the couch that Ryan had just vacated. Esteban moved over to sit beside her and sighed.

"I don't know what happened between them but Ryan is definitely happier than before." He admitted.

"Perhaps he and Eric have sorted themselves out," Francesca suggested and Esteban smirked. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him. She laughed as he kissed her cheek.

"While he's happy and distracted we should take this as an opportunity." He suggested with a wink. Francesca laughed and pushed him away.

"Let's take this opportunity to get you back on your skis you mean? I will make you good." She informed him.

Esteban shook his head. "I'm not getting back on skis it hurts."

"Esteban you can heal in a flash do not give me that excuse." Francesca chastised him. "I'm going back out, you can either come with me or not."

"Fine." Esteban grumbled and stood up with his wife and left to get their skis.

As they left Ryan finished up with his shower and had padded back into his bedroom wrapped only in a bathrobe. His father had suggested he leave most of his important things at home during their travels around, which happened to still be in Miami, but Ryan had made it clear that if he didn't have something like a laptop he would have gone crazy. Esteban had consented and bought Ryan a cheap laptop – if there was any such thing as a cheap laptop – but Ryan was not complaining. He wanted to open his laptop and check if Eric had added him to Skype but Ryan was absolutely knackered and he wanted nothing more than to go to bed. He had not rested on the flight to Miami or on the flight back and going through different time zones that quickly didn't feel good.

It had been nine in the evening when he and Esteban had finally boarded a flight back to Grenoble Airport and it had taken them six hours to fly there, meaning it had been eight o'clock, Miami time, when they had arrived and a two hour drive awaited them. It was now four in the morning in Miami, but there was a six hour time difference between Miami and France, give or take, so it was actually ten in the morning in France.

Ryan shoved his laptop aside and collapsed onto the pillows. He knew his mum had dragged his dad out to go skiing and assumed his dad was not as tired as he was. Eric could wait, Ryan just wanted to sleep and he wanted to do it now. Closing his eyes Ryan smiled as his thoughts turned to Eric and he drifted into sleep.

/

It was at least five in the morning when Ryan awoke again, he had slept for at least nineteen hours. Sitting up Ryan noticed that there was a piece of paper on the floor, apparently having been slipped under the door and Ryan slid out of his bed and picked it up.

_Ryan me and your mother have driven out of Altiport to find a really nice restaurant to eat in but we might even be back before you wake up so if so, we're probably on the slopes and we brought some food back from the restaurant for you. _

Ryan smiled as he read the note and decided that his father had not been expecting him to sleep for nineteen hours. Ryan hadn't been expecting to sleep for nineteen hours. Considering it was five in the morning Ryan assumed that neither of his parents was on the slopes, but the food that Esteban had referred to sounded good right now, Ryan was starving. As he passed through their Chalet towards the kitchen Ryan wondered what it would be like if he was deprived of food. He wouldn't die, that was obvious to him, but he felt hunger. So, would it be a slow torture that would drive him out of his mind? He couldn't eat but nor could he die, Ryan shuddered as that thought passed through his brain and made a mental note to try and avoid any situation that could lead to that.

As promised when he opened the fridge there was a plastic box full of food and a smaller one with a small slice of cake in it. Ryan grabbed the food and tipped it onto a plate before shoving it in the microwave and watching it spin around and cook. Tapping his fingers on the counter Ryan turned his thoughts to calculating what time it was in Miami right now. It was five in the morning for him, and Miami was six hours behind France so if his calculations were correct it was eleven at night in Miami. Ryan didn't know much about Eric's sleeping patterns but he assumed that he would still be awake, Eric didn't strike him as the sort of person who went to bed early, if eleven at night could be said to be early.

Ryan brought the plate of food to his room and settled on his bed, dragging his laptop towards him and turning it on. Picking at the plate of food as he typed in his password Ryan tried to figure out what his parents had actually brought home for him. Whatever it was it tasted nice so Ryan didn't complain about it and ate it. As soon as his laptop had loaded Ryan clicked on Skype and watched the circle spinning around as it loaded. Almost as soon as it loaded it came apparent that Eric had indeed added him on Skype and the green tick told him that Eric was online, or at least logged in. Turning his attention to the food before he tried Eric's account Ryan heard the ringing symbolising someone was calling him. Without thinking he answered the call with video and after a moment Eric's face popped up on his screen. Ryan barely managed to stop himself from grinning and showing Eric what he was eating.

"Hey," Eric greeted him with gusto, as if he hadn't seen Ryan in Miami recently.

"Hey," Ryan replied after he swallowed his food.

"Are you busy?" Eric asked.

"Nah I'm just eating, been asleep since we got back about nineteen hours ago." Ryan explained and Eric laughed.

"Seriously Wolfe?"

"Eric if we're going to take our relationship to Skype level I think we can use first names." Ryan chuckled as he took another mouthful of food.

Eric paused for a moment, thinking for a moment before chuckling as well. "I guess you're right, Ryan."

"You say it like it's weird to use it Eric, it's not like you've never used my first name before." Ryan pointed out and he swore Eric blushed at his words.

"I don't know," Eric replied, pausing to examine Ryan's face, "Ryan, it's weird you know. You said it yourself this is…Skype level did you say?"

"Yeah," Ryan found himself laughing again as he spoke, "I mean, before this we were just colleagues, we never talked to each other out of work and even in work we had a lot of issues and yet now, now we're talking to each other in different countries, outside of work, because you wanted to keep in touch." He continued, "I think that symbolises we should use our first names."

"That's true." Eric murmured. "So, where are you exactly?"

"In France, skiing." Ryan mumbled as he ate.

"I guess that explains the clothes when you came to see me, you weren't exactly dressed for Miami weather." Eric grinned.

"Yeah, as soon as my dad explained that something was wrong I came straight to Miami, there didn't seem much point in getting changed." Ryan admitted.

Eric laughed again. "That worried about me?" He asked.

"Yes." Ryan replied straight away.

Eric was rather taken aback by that answer and was unsure of what to say. A rather awkward silence settled over them as Ryan avoided looking at the screen and continued eating, until it went down the wrong way and he started choking. As he tried to cough the food back up Eric inquired and asked if he was okay until Ryan finally managed to dislodge the food into his mouth and re-swallow it before gasping for air. Eric laughed when Ryan glanced up at the screen, his face a little red.

"What's so funny?" Ryan gasped as he pushed the plate away from him for the moment.

"Well you were so desperate to get that food dislodged but it's not like it could have killed you." Eric chuckled.

Ryan stared blankly at him for a moment, unsure of how to react to that before settling upon laughing as well.  
"It's still kind of uncomfortable to choke on food." He told Eric but they both continued laughing.

Eric eventually yawned, leaning back and stretching as he did so.

"Do you want to go to bed?" Ryan asked.

"I'm fine." Eric replied.

"Do you have work tomorrow, well later today I guess?"

"No, unless there is an important case, I've got the day off." Eric informed Ryan and he grinned.

"Well how about this? You go to bed now and we'll spend the day talking? How does that sound?" Ryan suggested.

Eric grinned as he yawned again, well Ryan assumed it was a grin since his mouth was open and covered by his hand. He was definitely grinning when he finished yawning.

"That sounds good. Um, I'll be waking up around nine, what time will it be in France?"

"About three in the afternoon. I'll log in around then and we can talk." Ryan stated.

"Alright Ryan, we'll talk later." Eric said before biding Ryan goodnight. Ryan chuckled and bad Eric goodnight despite it being early morning for him and closed his laptop when the call ended. He could hear someone moving around the Chalet and assumed his parents were up and about now and Ryan decided to finish eating before inquiring if they were going out on the slopes that day. He wanted to go skiing to take his mind off the fact that he was going to spend the entire day, well, afternoon talking to Eric and if he didn't he'd be sat around constantly checking Skype in hopes that Eric would have woken up early. Ryan also made the decision that, if this conversation went well, he would contact Horatio and ask him if he could come back to the Crime Lab in Miami.


	7. Trouble

Summary:

A new serial killer has emerged in Miami and after over-hearing a conversation between Horatio and Frank, Eric realises there is something extremely familiar about this one. His suspicions are confirmed when three agents join forces with the CSIs working the serial case to help catch the killer, claiming he has affiliations with a gang that has origins in ancient Greek times. Eric is about to find out however that these agents aren't all they seem to be and revelations may spell disaster.

Notes:

Sorry it's taken me so long, since I last updated I've had so much stuff happening in my life that Fallen From Heaven kind of took a back seat. As I now have quite a lot of spare time I should be able to update more often now, and hopefully will finish Fallen From Heaven before I return to Uni in September.  
This chapter is one I used to tie up all the loose ends, sort of, of the previous few chapters since Ryan left and the actual Eric/Ryan relationship will progress a lot more after this chapter so, enjoy ^^

* * *

- Three Months Later -

A new serial killer had arrived in Miami and Horatio, Eric and a new person called Jesse Cardoza while Calleigh, Walter – who was also new – and Natalia sorted out any other crimes that happened. So far they had not come close to finding the identity of this serial killer in weeks and all those involved with the case were becoming frustrated.

The killings were seemingly randomly and only one thing stuck out about them. There was not one white person among them. So far a person of every race had been found murdered by this man but they were yet to find a white victim. Every single victim, both male and female, were found wearing white robes, similar dress as Jesse had found out to that of the ancient people of the Peloponnese. And each and every victim had a pair of angel wings carved into their back, just over the shoulder blades, with a crooked but rather intricate I carved down the middle of the wings. They were all killed in the same way, their throats slit as they hung upside down so the blood drained out. At each crime scene the killer had drawn a picture in the blood, angel wings with an I in the middle, the same as on the backs of the victims. Occasionally snakes featured in his art, and no one had come close to figuring out what any of this meant.

This case was getting to Eric really badly because there was hardly any publicity for the victims. The serial killer himself was making headlines all over Miami, but the victims themselves had not actually been broadcasted and it made Eric sick. He knew why, he knew it was because they weren't white, if the killer had only been killing white people the news would have been milking it for all the public support.

And to make matters worse, for Eric at least, was that he had not had contact with Ryan in about the same amount of time as the serial killer had appeared on the scene. Last time he had spoken to Ryan his friend had said something about going to Greece and after that they had had no contact.

To say Eric was worried was an understatement. And one day, one Friday afternoon while Eric and Horatio were trying to find some new lead for their case, his worries were accentuated into fear.

"Horatio." Frank announced his presence by calling out Horatio's name and Horatio glanced up, smiled at Eric, before leaving the lab. Eric moved to the door, eager to hear Frank's news, hoping it was a lead for them.

"What is it Frank?"

"I've got some strange news from an officer of mine." Frank began, "He says that he was doing a routine check up on some abandoned factories where squatters frequent and he walked in on man cutting the throat of a young Hispanic girl. Recognised him immediately from the MO as the Serial Killer you're hunting and he shot him right away."

"That is good news Frank." Horatio said softly. "So what is the strange news?"

"Well, the officer claims that this man got up after five minutes of lying cold on the ground. He didn't even seem hurt, he was no longer bleeding and he ran. The officer called it in and we saw the divot of the through and through bullet in the floor and we found the bullet, but no body." Frank continued.

"He got up and walked away?" Horatio inquired, his tone disbelieving. "Someone cannot just get up and walk away from a point blank bullet unless they are wearing a vest." Horatio pointed out.

Eric however was frozen. That sounded extremely similar. Ryan had been shot at point blank range and had gotten up and walked away fine; twice.

Tearing from the room Eric ignored the quizzical look of Jesse, who had been trying to find other leads in DNA and made immediately for the locker room. He needed to call Ryan now and get him to answer, unsure how he was going to do that exactly, but he had to try.

Whipping out his phone Eric dialled Ryan's number and prayed that Ryan would answer him. The phone immediately went to answer phone and Ryan hadn't even recorded a message. Snapping the phone shut Eric took a deep breath to calm himself down before sinking down onto the benches that ran through the locker room.

"What's wrong Eric?" Horatio asked, appearing at the door silently and making the Cuban jump.

"Nothing H I just…I heard what Frank was saying and I just, needed a moment." Eric lied.

Horatio raised an eyebrow, it was evident that he didn't believe Eric but he said nothing.

"It is hard to accept but there are many explanations for it Eric. I need you to come with me, Frank brought more news than just that and I'm calling a meeting." Horatio ordered.

Eric stood and put his phone away in his pocket before he followed Horatio out of the room to the break room, where Jesse, Calleigh, Walter and Natalia were waiting for them. Frank had disappeared.

"What's going on Horatio?" Walter asked as Jesse shot Eric another quizzical look which Eric frankly ignored.

"We have some agents joining our team to help us investigate the Winged Killer." Horatio began. Most of the assembled CSIs cringed at the nickname that had been given to the newest serial killer in Miami, the press were not too imaginative and the name gave them all a sense that the killer would always escape them.  
"They have come forward from an agency that specialises in overseas gangs, and they have informed Frank that the victims we have been finding all over Miami are similar to bodies that they have investigated before. They caught the last killer that did this and have been called in here to help us. Frank is bringing them up now." Horatio continued.

"Overseas gangs?" Jesse questioned.

"Yes," Horatio confirmed but said nothing further because Frank was coming towards them, leading three people behind him, two men and one woman. Eric looked up as they approached and met the gaze of the smallest of the three and immediately something like déjà vu, or recognition, flashed through him. It was the man's eyes, because there was nothing else about his features – sandy blonde hair carefully gelled back from his forehead, thin bloodless lips and lightly tanned skin – that seemed familiar to him.

"May I introduce the team that has been sent over to help you." Frank said as they entered the break room.

The smallest of them all, the one that had grabbed Eric's attention, stepped forward with a warm smile.

"My name is Josh Carnegie and I was the one who decided to come and give you a hand, once it was cleared with my supervisor of course." At this he glanced at the woman who smiled back at him. "She is Penelope Buxton and this other guy is Noah Carnegie, my older brother. I hope we can work well together." He said, shaking hands with Horatio and just smiling at everyone else. Eric was not completely convinced they were genuine, they seemed a little too close to be just co-workers, although Josh had said he was brothers with the other guy.

"We're glad you came to join us. Please enlighten us on what you know of this serial killer." Horatio requested.

"Of course." Josh began but Noah placed a hand on his shoulder and Josh stepped back, allowing his brother to come forward, shake Horatio's hand, before he answered the question.

"We know next to nothing about this particular serial killer," He began. _Not a promising start, _Eric thought sceptically.  
"But there have been many other killers such as this before. We have never seen one that is selective about the race of his kills, but the gang members differ from person to person, from belief to belief." Noah paused for a moment but not long enough for any of them to ask questions.  
"They call themselves the Immortals, because they believe they can live forever. Their symbol is angel wings with a curved I in the middle of them, which we believe this serial killer is carving into the backs of his victims. They originate from Greece, though not all members are actually Greek. We have no knowledge how they choose their members or what they have to go through to get into the gang, but their motives are usually the same."

"What is that?" Jesse asked.

"They want to purify the world and leave only those that qualify, or have qualified, to be an immortal. Then, these immortals can repopulate the world together for a better world." Penelope replied and Eric noticed she sounded a little bitter.

"Who is it we will be working closely with?" Josh asked, his eyes on Eric and a slight smile curving his lips.

"Eric Delko and Jesse Cardoza, along with myself, are working this case." Horatio informed him.

"We shall split and work with one of you each." Penelope stated. "I shall work with CSI Caine, Josh you shall work with CSI Cardoza and Noah you shall accompany CSI Delko. Let's get this guy."

Everyone nodded and left the break room, Josh and Noah sharing a few quiet words before following the CSIs they had been assigned to by Penelope. Eric watched as Noah approached him and tried to decide if he was familiar to him like Josh had been. Shaking his head Eric felt nausea rising in him and he went immediately to the locker room, again, with Noah following him, to take one of the pills Ryan had given him so long ago. Noah said nothing about Eric popping pills on the clock, but he did show a little concern when Eric looked into the bottle and found he had no pills left.

"Shit," He cursed quietly, although he tried to make it seem like it wasn't such a problem. The last thing he needed was this Noah character going to Horatio and telling him he had issues because he didn't have pills left. The nausea hit him like a wave as he moved and Eric stumbled. Noah immediately approached him and laid a hand on the small of his back to support him and Eric was shocked to find that he immediately felt better. The nausea was gone, the pain that he had been ignoring was gone and he felt strong, like he had before Ryan and his parents had left Miami.

_What is going on? _Eric wondered as he pulled himself from Noah's grasp and avoided his gaze.

"Are you feeling alright CSI Delko?" Noah asked.

"Just call me Eric." Eric replied shortly, "And yeah I'm fine."

"I'm just checking." Noah said gently as he followed Eric to where Horatio and Penelope were going over the evidence they had collected so far.

"Let's just focus on this killer okay." Eric suggested as they entered the lab.

"Eric, you okay?" Horatio inquired.

"Yeah H I'm fine, just a little tired."

"We all are Eric, let's just hope we can now catch this guy." Horatio smiled at his colleague and Eric couldn't help but smile back.

"Shall we begin?" Penelope asked and all four nod together.

/

Eric sighed as he finally reached his apartment. So far he had only been able to catch a few hours sleep because Horatio had been working them all very hard to catch this serial killer. As soon as Eric entered his apartment he noticed something strange. All the papers he had abandoned on his table before he had left that morning were neatly sorted out on the table, his pots were put away instead of just thrown into the sink or left on the draining board and Eric could smell that a cleaning product had been used around his apartment. Eric automatically went for his gun and slowly stalked forward, heading towards his bedroom, the only place he couldn't see properly from the front door.

"Hello Eric," A voice called out and Eric jumped. Knocking his bedroom door open Eric found Josh Carnegie from that morning lay out on his bed, covered by his duvet, and from what Eric could see he was not wearing a shirt.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Eric snapped, lowering his gun but not putting it down.

"I wanted to surprise you." Josh said.

Eric was about to yell at the man again but something stopped him. "Your voice…"He murmured.

"Yes Eric you know it." Josh confirmed with a smile. "Close your eyes." He requested.

Eric rolled his eyes but complied regardless, anything to get rid of this man. After five minutes he felt hands on his, taking his gun from him and setting it aside and then the hands were on his face. Eric's eyes opened out of sheer gut reaction and he found himself looking into the green eyes of Ryan, not the brown eyes of Josh.

"Ryan?" He breathed, not believing he was really there.

"Mm," Ryan smiled and stroked Eric's cheeks softly.

"What…how…what are you doing here?" Eric asked. He was incredulous, how was Ryan even here?

"I'm Josh Carnegie, Eric." Ryan admitted, "As soon as I heard about this serial killer in Miami I knew he was one of us, you know, someone like me and I told my dad we had to go and deal with him. He said we'd have more freedom if we came back like this, in disguise, so we did. Noah and Penelope are my parents."

Eric stumbled a little at the news and Ryan steered him to the bed.

"You're really here?" He asked.

Ryan said nothing, moving to stand in front of Eric and sink onto his lap. With a deep breath he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Eric's gently. Their first kiss was gentle, as if they were testing how far the other was willing to go. It was only when Ryan slowly caressed Eric's lip with his tongue that Eric felt the true lust flare up inside him, and he drew Ryan right against his body and plunged his own tongue into Ryan's mouth. Ryan's eyes closed and he moaned into the kiss, his back arching as Eric ran his hands up and down, glad that Ryan was not wearing a shirt.

Ryan broke back from the kiss and rested his forehead against Eric's, glad that being sat on Eric's knee gave him the extra height to do so.

"I'm here Eric." He murmured.

"I want you so bad Ryan," Eric whispered as he peppered Ryan's skin with kisses, biting into the sensitive skin at the dip between Ryan's neck and shoulder.

"My dad…ah…didn't want me to come to see you…not until we…mm…caught this guy." Ryan admitted as best he could, his speech integrated with moans as Eric sucked at the skin to leave an angry red mark, denoting Ryan as his.

"And you disobeyed him?" Eric asked, his breath ghosting along Ryan's skin and making him shiver.

"Mm,"  
"Eric I need to…I need to show you something." Ryan murmured as Eric continued to bite along his shoulder.

"What is it love?" Eric asked.

Ryan felt a thrill go through him as Eric called him 'love' and he smiled.

"I have a true form." He whispered.

"Huh?"

Eric pulled back from Ryan's shoulder to look him in the eye, a little confused by Ryan's words.

"The form I wear is a disguise Eric. I tried to disguise myself as closely as possible to what I truly look like, but if I didn't wear a disguise it would be evident to everyone that I wasn't human and-."

"Ryan wait." Eric interrupted with a sheepish smile. "If this is one of those things like, 'My true form is going to make you lustful for me' then I don't want to see it."

"But-."

"No Ryan, please. You're beautiful enough as you are, sexy even, and I don't want to become so lustful for you that I don't even know what I'm going to do. I love you Ryan Wolfe and I love you as you are, human or not." Eric declared.

Ryan blushed and looked into Eric's eyes with happiness in the depth of his eyes.

"I want you now Ryan." Eric whispered, "Let me have you."

Unable to speak Ryan simply nodded. As Eric went back to kiss Ryan he was sure he saw Ryan's eyes change colour and when he tilted his head back Ryan's eyes changed colour again. Shaking his head Eric smiled and drew Ryan in for another kiss as he managed to shift them round so Ryan was lay under him, pressed flush against the bed sheets and Eric's warm body.

/

Eric groaned a little as he slowly woke up and turned over. The bed was warm next to him but it was quickly growing cold and Eric sat up, searching around for Ryan. The night before came back to him suddenly and Eric grinned. Getting out of bed Eric stretched and took a deep breath accompanied by a smile. It was that deep breath that made Eric realise that he could smell cooking, or food at least. Grabbing some pants from the floor Eric slipped into them as he exited his bedroom and made his way to his kitchen, hoping to see Ryan in there but the room was empty. A steaming plate of scrambled eggs waited for him, next to a glass of orange juice and a note.

_Eric, I have to leave early to get back before my dad wakes up and realises I'm gone. He'll know automatically where I was and I'd rather avoid that conversation for now. I made you breakfast though and don't worry, I'll come back to you whenever you want me to.  
But Eric, you have to act professionally around Josh when we're at work, even when we're alone. I am not Ryan at the moment okay? I don't want anyone getting suspicious about anything, especially H and my father. Let me make the moves. Once this is all over, you can do as you please._

_I love you.  
Ryan._

Eric found himself smirking as he read the note. He vaguely remembered giving Ryan a lot of love bites last night, he wondered if Ryan could disguise those before he came into the lab this morning. Digging his fork into the scrambled eggs Eric took an experimental bite, he wasn't sure if Ryan could cook or whether it was just a nice gesture because he had to leave before Eric had woken up.

"Oh god," Eric nearly moaned as he swallowed. The food tasted amazing, Eric found himself thinking they were better than any other scrambled eggs that Eric had ever tasted.  
"Thank you Ryan," Eric mumbled as he glanced at the clock and found he did not have much time before he actually had to be in work. Shovelling the eggs and downing the orange juice in one Eric ran back to the bedroom to get dressed. He found a tie tied to the headboard of his bed, a tie that he recognised. Josh, or Ryan really, had been wearing that tie yesterday. Eric grinned as he dressed, grabbed his keys, wallet and badge and ran from his flat, just remembering to lock the door. If he was fast enough he could possibly get in work before everyone else and meet with Ryan, professionally of course.

It seemed Eric was having a lucky day as when he arrived the night-shift was just packing up their cases and getting ready to go home. Eric glanced around and spotted Horatio in his office but Horatio did not notice him. He did not see Ryan – Josh, call him Josh – but he could see the other two agents, Ryan's parents, quietly conversing in the break room.

_If Ryan was anywhere in here where would he be?_ Eric asked himself. The answer came to him suddenly. If Ryan was back the only other person other than Eric that would know was Alexx. She would be here right now, in the morgue, and so that is where Eric found himself running to, only slowing when he finally reached the double doors.

"Can I help you?" He heard Alexx asking.

"Yes," That was Josh's voice. So, Ryan had gone to see Alexx in disguise. "Have any more bodies been found?"

"None that I know off. A little too eager for a new body to me." Alexx said warily. Eric decided to save Ryan the uncomfortable scrutiny of Alexx, the CSI had had to go through it once before when he had first joined the team. Ryan should not be hiding his identity from Alexx anyway, if anyone on the team deserved to know it would be her, she would not judge Ryan in any way, if she would believe it.

"Hey Alexx." Eric called as he entered. 'Josh' jumped in shock and turned to face Eric, a faint blush just visible on his cheeks. Eric held back a grin.

"Hello Eric, what brings you here so early?" Alexx asked with a smile.

"Looking for him," Eric replied, jerking a thumb at 'Josh', who gave him a look that clearly said 'Don't you dare!'

"Why would you be looking for Officer Carnegie?" Alexx asked suspiciously.

_Typical,_ Eric thought as he supressed a snort of laughter, _I ask after the pretty ones and Alexx automatically assumes the worst. Well she isn't wrong this time I guess._

"Because Josh here is actually Ryan Wolfe." Eric declared. In that instant the disguise was gone and an angry Ryan stood before them, glaring at Eric.

"Did you not read my note this morning Eric! No one is supposed to know!" He yelled, forgetting that Alexx had just seen him change from Josh to Ryan in the blink of an eye. The sound of their ME clearing her throat brought the whole situation crashing down on Ryan. He turned to Alexx with something akin to fear in his eyes and Eric looked between them, wondering how this would play out.

"Ryan what's going on baby?" Alexx asked.

"I…I can't explain it Alexx you won't believe me," Ryan muttered.

"Ryan honey I just saw you materialise out of nowhere and no one can get rid of a disguise that fast honey. Now tell me!" Alexx snapped.

Ryan glanced at her, trying to gauge what her reaction would be. He then turned to glare at Eric again. Ignoring the anger on Ryan's features Eric moved forward and wrapped his arms around Ryan's waist, pulling his back flush against Eric's chest and resting his chin on the smaller CSI's shoulder. Alexx's sceptical expression changed to one of what Eric could only describe as glee.

"Um Alexx-." He began.

"Wait a minute Eric," She interrupted him with a wide smile on her lips, "It's about time you two got together. Eric's been pining after you since you left mister." She said and Ryan blushed.

"We were talking," He admitted quietly.

"But Alexx-." Eric tried again but she was having none of it.

"Wait Eric I have questions for Ryan,"

Ryan looked down at the floor in defeat and subtly kicked Eric as Alexx scrutinised him.

"Now honey I don't know what's happening here, or how you managed to trick me but-."

"I can explain," Ryan said quickly, paling when he realised he had just interrupted Alexx, which was never a good idea. She did not however look affronted, merely relieved that she was going to get some answers.  
"Alexx," Ryan began, "I know you're a woman of science and so fantastical things probably don't appeal to you much, you probably don't believe in such things but I can prove what I am about to say is true. I hope it doesn't change your view of me or anything because you're a dear friend and I don't-."

"Ryan you're stalling," Eric whispered in his ear and Ryan jumped a little before nodding.

"Okay." He said, more for himself or anything. Admitting all this once to Eric had been hard enough, admitting it to Alexx, who he viewed as a mother and loved as a dear friend was even harder it seemed.  
"I'm not human." He began.

Alexx looked like she was caught between wanting to laugh at Ryan and wanting to listen to the rest of what he had to say before she dismissed it. Thankfully she chose the latter. Eric gave Ryan a little squeeze for support.

"I don't know how to describe myself really," Ryan continued, "But I am not human. I can choose the age I wish to appear, I can disguise myself in anyway, within reason at least and I will never die."

"You can never die?" Alexx asked, the scepticism back.

"No I can't and I'll prove it to you." Ryan declared with a little more confidence this time. Eric did not particularly want Ryan to attempt to kill himself in the morgue in case anyone walked in, so he decided to jump in.

"I didn't believe it at first either Alexx," He stated and Alexx's attention was brought to him, although she still glanced at Ryan.  
"When Ryan was shot at that crime scene every kept telling me that he was wearing a vest and I knew that he wasn't, I knew that he had been shot point blank and had survived without any injuries at all."

"But he was wearing a vest," Alexx protested.

"No Alexx I wasn't." Ryan said, "My father made everyone believe that I had been so nobody would ask questions but because Eric saw it happen he knew the truth, but no one would believe him."

Alexx shook her head but said nothing, so Eric decided to continue.

"I decided to take matters into my own hands so I went to Ryan's apartment and I shot him."

"Twice," Ryan added, sounding a little annoyed and Eric couldn't help but smile.

"Mm, twice. Once in the stomach and once in the knee. I didn't want to kill him if I was wrong so I just did it to maim him, but before my eyes he healed. He was completely fine, only minor blood loss as well." Eric added. He hoped Alexx would just accept it so that Ryan did not have to prove it, it would not bode well if he did, Eric could feel it.

"I…can't believe I am hearing this from you two. Especially you two. Do you expect me to believe this?" Alexx asked.

"Yes," Ryan mumbled.

"Well I don't. I think you should leave." Alexx decided, turning away from them.

"Wait!" Ryan cried, "I can prove it to you."

Before Eric could tighten his grip or Alexx could stop him Ryan darted forward and took up a scalpel from the side of the morgue. As Eric moved after him to grab his hand and stop him and Alexx cried out Ryan plunged the scalpel into his neck, severing his jugular.

Blood spurted from the wound in one long arterial spray and the scalpel fell to the floor. Eric reached Ryan just before he dropped after it and supported him, despite getting covered in Ryan's blood, yet again. Alexx was too shocked to move as she watched. Ryan looked up at Eric and smiled. Eric did not smile back. He knew Ryan would heal quickly and be fine a few minutes but seeing him plunging a knife into his throat just to prove he wasn't human was not something Eric had enjoyed, he felt nauseous and sick. Alexx finally found the will to move as she stepped forward slowly, her eyes fixed on Ryan's neck. The blood was slowing, the wound was closing and Ryan's breathing had gotten easier. He had been clenching onto Eric's sleeve with a white-knuckle grasp but his fingers slowly relaxed their grip and he stood up properly, stopping himself from leaning into Eric for support as the wound healed itself.

"Oh my god," Alexx breathed.

"I'm sorry I messed up the room Alexx," Ryan murmured apologetically as Alexx finally reached him and started examining his neck for the wound. Her fingers found the mark, fresh but even that was fading, and when he next met Ryan's eye he knew she believed him now.

"But how baby?" She asked quietly.

"Yes Ryan, please explain how." Another voice asked and Eric, Alexx and Ryan whipped around to find Horatio stood by the door, his glasses in one hand and his eyes taking in the sight of Ryan's blood and the scalpel abandoned on the floor.


	8. Weakness

Summary:

Horatio knows about Ryan. The Winged Killer's next attack brings the case to a personal level for the CSIs. Ryan decides to take off and stop the immortal man before he can do any more damage to Miami, or to the CSI team, but there is a fatal secret that his father never revealed to him that may put an end to Ryan's immortality.

Notes:

So this chapter is a direct continuation of the chapter before, and the chapter after this is going to be a direct continuation as well. I've never really done that completely before so I thought I'd give it a go. I also decided to go a different direction with the whole immortal idea, I didn't want them to be completely invincible so I added a little twist to the story.

I'm not sure if I'm going to always be uploading at a day to day rate, but at the moment I have nothing else to do and I love this story so hopefully I can keep up the fast pace.

Enjoy this chapter and thanks to everyone who is still with me and reviewing this story, it's so nice to read them all even if it's just a little thing.

* * *

"_But how baby?" She asked quietly._

"_Yes Ryan, please explain how." Another voice asked and Eric, Alexx and Ryan whipped around to find Horatio stood by the door, his glasses in one hand and his eyes taking in the sight of Ryan's blood and the scalpel abandoned on the floor._

Ryan jumped at the sight of his ex-boss and scrambled away from Eric, his hand going up to scratch at the blood that was drying on his neck. Alexx herself seemed shocked as well, and was watching Horatio warily, waiting for his reaction. Eric tried to keep his expression neutral but he was extremely worried and would jump to Ryan's defence if he needed to.

"H…I…um…what did you um-?" Ryan stuttered as Horatio stood waiting patiently for his answer.

"Why don't you start by explaining why you are here?" Horatio finally suggested when Ryan couldn't formulate his words properly.

"The serial killer named Wing Killer brought me here Horatio," Ryan replied softly, seemingly calming when Horatio did not seem angry, just surprised and happy.

"And what about him brought you here Ryan?" Horatio prompted again.

Ryan took a deep breath. His father was going to kill him but it was all Eric's fault this had happened. Or was it his fault for revealing himself to Eric when his father had strictly forbidden him from doing so? Either way Ryan had now revealed himself to a third person and Esteban was going to be mad.

"He's the same as me," He stated boldly.

Horatio managed to keep a relative straight face when Ryan said this, contrasting the shock that both Eric and Alexx wore. Eric, who had known from the moment he had overheard Horatio and Frank talking about this man that he was the same as Ryan, was shocked that Ryan had admitted it so easily to Horatio. Alexx was just shocked that Ryan was comparing himself to a serial killer.

"And how is that?" Horatio asked.

Ryan took a breath. "He's immortal Horatio, and so am I."

"I see," Horatio replied, "And that's why you returned?"

"Horatio he's not like a normal person. SWAT, CSI, the police, no one is going to be able to bring him down. Tranquiliser won't work, bullets will only hinder him for a few minutes, if that, and he is strong, stronger than a human." Ryan continued, suddenly confident again. "He's a danger to everyone in Miami and he won't stop until he's completed his mission. That's why I've come back."

"To stop him?" Horatio asked, this time showing his surprise.

"Yes. I am the same. I may not be as strong as him, he is probably a lot older than me, but my strength is more than a match and I can take him down. It will not kill him. Prison will probably not be able to hold him but my father can deal with him Horatio, I know he can. He's one of the oldest, and therefore one of the strongest." Ryan confirmed.

"And where is your father exactly?" Horatio asked.

"He's Noah Carnegie, Horatio." Ryan admitted. "I am Josh and my mother is acting as Penelope. We've come to rid Miami of this man and leave you in…well whatever you can call the lull between serial killers in this city." He continued.

"And when you have what will you do then?" Horatio inquired softly.

"Return to my job as Ryan Wolfe, if you will allow me too." Ryan answered straight away.

"I would be honoured to have you back on the team," Horatio said after a moment and Ryan smiled at the genuine smile he wore.  
"How long have you known about this Eric?" Horatio then turned his attention to the other CSI.

"A while," Eric said apologetically, "But he swore to secrecy."

Horatio nodded.

"Are you alright Alexx?" Ryan asked in the moment of silence. Alexx nodded although her eyes were roaming over the blood that was drying on the morgue floor.  
"I'll clean it up for you," Ryan told her, cringing at the mess he had made as his OCD flared within him.

Alexx fixed him with a stare and Ryan laughed nervously.

"Damn right you will Ryan." She declared, "Right now you will before any bodies get brought in."

Ryan nodded vigorously and made to leave to find a mop. Horatio stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"When we catch this killer I want you to explain everything to me Ryan." He requested.

"Of course H." Ryan agreed before sweeping off. Eric made to follow him but stopped when Horatio turned around and fixed him under his blue eyed stare.

"This was the real reason he left wasn't it Eric?" He asked.

"Mm. I found out a few things about him at once and it was a lot to take in so we were a little uncomfortable around each other for a while. Ryan couldn't take it so he left. It was a good idea really, we've gotten quite close since he's been gone." Eric confessed.

Horatio raised an eyebrow and grinned. "And now that he's back?"

"We're close still."

"Good. Let's keep it that way Eric." Horatio informed the Cuban and Eric nodded, he had every intention of staying close to Ryan now that he was back, especially since he had admitted he was going to stay after this was over.

Both Eric and Horatio left as Ryan bustled back in, carrying a bucket full of water, disinfectant, a mop and several cloths.

Eric grinned.

Horatio smiled fondly.

Alexx made him put it all down so she could hug him.

"Ah Lieutenant Caine," A voice called and Eric and Horatio turned to see Noah, Penelope and Jesse approaching them.  
"We were wondering where you had gotten to. It's time to carry on tracking this killer." Noah continued with one eyebrow cocked.

"I am well aware of that Agent Carnegie, Eric and I were just discussing some theories with Alexx, our medical examiner." Horatio explained smoothly.

"I see," Noah said. Both Horatio and Eric knew that he was not entirely convinced by this explanation, but he said nothing else.

"Care to share these theories?" Penelope asked.

"Not currently." Horatio stated simply. "Let's get to work."

/

Ryan, or 'Josh', did not turn up for a while, much to the obvious chagrin of both Penelope and Noah. Jesse therefore worked with Eric and Noah, and it was a little uncomfortable, as Eric knew that Noah was Esteban but he had to keep pretending he was a real agent and younger than he obviously was. Ryan had said that Esteban was one of the oldest of the immortals that existed in the world, which Eric found quite impressive despite not knowing Esteban's age. He wondered how old Ryan was.

"Any leads Eric?" Jesse asked as he poured over evidence.

"None." Eric replied. It was frustrating because something told Eric that Esteban, Francesca and Ryan all knew more than they were letting on and they had only come to the police to find out what they knew before they made their own move.

"Horatio there was another victim!" Calleigh's voiced called out and the five people on the case rushed out to the break room to see the TV report.  
"This one survived." Calleigh stated, "But they haven't said who it was yet."

"_The survivor of the newest attack has been identified to us now," _The news reported claimed. All attention turned to the screen. Ryan, newly disguised as Josh again, entered just in time.  
"_The victim of this latest attack is a Mrs Delko, mother of the CSI agent Eric Delko. She survived this attack and has been taken to Miami general hospital for treatment."_

Nobody spoke as shock sank in. Eric's face was an unreadable mask even as he felt his gut twist and his heart drop.

"Mama…" He murmured. "I have to go to the hospital." He cried after another moment of silence.

"Eric if you go, go without intent to carry on with this case." Horatio warned his colleague. Eric turned around to look at Horatio, shock now visible on his features. Before he could speak he saw Josh slip from the room, closely followed by Noah.

"H I have to go there as a CSI as well as a son," He protested.

"Eric you're suddenly involved with one of the victims, you can't be involved in this case anymore. Go to see her as a son, take Calleigh, she'll replace you on this case, and one of the agents with you." Horatio ordered.

Eric scowled, he didn't want to be taken off the case just because of this even though he knew it made sense. Internal Affairs would have a field day if they knew that Horatio had allowed Eric to continue to work on the case despite one of the victims was his mother. Stalking from the room Eric noticed 'Josh' slipping into the locker room followed by Noah and decided to follow them to ask Ryan to accompany him to the hospital. Calleigh remained behind in the break room to get instructions from Horatio but she watched Eric's movements through the glass.

"We have to go after him now dad!" It was Ryan's voice that Eric heard as he leant next to the door of the locker room.

"We can't be too hasty about this Ryan! If he catches wind that we are after him he'll be gone in the wind and we'll have to chase him across America." Esteban snapped back.

"He attacked Eric's mother!" Ryan hissed, "It's personal now."

"Control yourself Ryan!" Esteban barked. "You do not even know this woman, even if you know Eric himself. If you cannot control your opinions and emotions I shall lock you up until we catch this man."

"You cannot do that!" Ryan cried.

"I am your father and I can. You will listen to me Ryan and you will listen to me now! You shall act as Josh and be professional, even when you're processing Mrs Delko and working around this case. If I see you slip even once I shall take you off this case as quickly as possible." Esteban stated firmly. Ryan said nothing merely stalked towards the door, his disguise firmly back in place. Eric rushed away from the door as Ryan exited, making his way towards the lift.

"CSI Delko," 'Josh' called, "Allow me to accompany you to the hospital."

"Of course Agent Carnegie." Eric murmured with a tight smile. It touched him that Ryan was so angry that his mother had been attacked but something about what Esteban had said struck as logic within him.

"Are you accompanying us Agent Carnegie?" Calleigh asked as she joined them by the lift with her kit.

"Yes CSI Duquesne."

"Please call me Calleigh," Calleigh informed 'Josh' and he smiled warmly at her.

"Then yes, Calleigh, I am accompanying you."

Eric rolled his eyes at the conversation between them, his heart still tight with fear for his mother.

/

The hospital was a rather depressing affair for all three of them. Calleigh asked if she could process Eric's mother and she agreed quietly, she was still slightly high on morphine. Ryan managed to keep his disguise though Eric could see his anger at the situation, and he asked Eric's mother many questions about the attack. Eric sat by her side silently, holding her hand and stroking her skin softly. None of his other family were there yet, the police came first and they were all waiting outside.

"Come on Agent Carnegie," Calleigh murmured softly.

"You can call me Josh." Ryan replied.

"Well then Josh, let's go." Calleigh said quietly. She placed a hand on Eric's shoulder and squeezed it in support. Eric locked eyes with 'Josh' and for a moment his eyes flashed back to Ryan's and 'Josh' mouthed _"I'll come back later"_ before following Calleigh out of the door.

"It's personal now," Calleigh hissed as they left the hospital to take her findings back to the lab.

"Are you close to CSI Delko and his family?" 'Josh' asked.

"I'm close to Eric himself and I've met his family once or twice. His mother is sweet and she's a really good cook." Calleigh replied with a true smile.

'Josh' smiled in response but his heart beat a little faster at the news. Had Eric and Calleigh grown close while he had been gone? No…that couldn't be possible, Eric had accepted him into his house and into his bed and had accepted him, despite what he was.

"Let's get back to the lab and process the evidence you found." Calleigh decided when 'Josh' did not reply to her answer. 'Josh' nodded and followed her to the Hummer.

/

"Calleigh what did you find under our victims fingernails?" Horatio asked as he entered the lab where 'Josh' and Calleigh were just getting the results.

"Coral and jet fuel." Calleigh replied in confusion.

'Josh' turned to one of the computers in the lab and immediately searched for coral quarries near airports. Only one in Miami came up and he swept from the room immediately. Horatio and Calleigh did not question it, assuming he had gone to update Noah and Penelope. Neither of them saw him going to the lift.

"We may have found where he stores his victims." Calleigh murmured.

"Let's get a force together and get down there." Horatio stated.

"Wait," Calleigh called as Horatio moved towards the door, "There is also salt water under her nails, along with dirt and grass. He may have kept

her in two different places."

"Let's find out where this came from before we send teams out then. I'll go and inform the agents." Horatio decided and left the room. Calleigh agreed with him and turned to the computer that 'Josh' had abandoned to try and find out where salt water, dirt and grass all came together in Miami.

Penelope seemed impressed by the find but Noah seemed more concerned than anything.

"Where is Josh, is he still at the hospital with the latest victim?" He inquired after Horatio had finished explaining his plan.

"No he was with myself and Calleigh when we found out the results. He found out where coral and jet fuel came together in Miami and was out of the door. We assumed that he was coming to find you to update you on the results." Horatio replied, concern lacing his voice now. He knew 'Josh' was Ryan and that Noah and Penelope were his parents, and Penelope was doing a better job of hiding her concern than Noah was. Was it possible that Ryan had gone after the killer because he had attacked Eric's mother?

"He's gone after the killer." Noah breathed.

"We have to go and find him." Penelope gasped.

"I'll send some officers with you." Horatio declared, deciding to ignore the slip in their disguises as their parental instincts took over.

"No, let us go alone." Noah snapped before hurrying to the lift. Penelope blinked and smiled sadly at Horatio.

"Noah is protective of his brother, I'm sorry he was so short with you. I shall remain here and try and reach Josh through phone." She decided.

Noah was gone before she finished talking.

/

"Officer Delko there is a man asking for you at the reception desk." A doctor said as he came in to check on Eric's mother. Eric stood, not even asking who it was, hoping it was Ryan since he had promised to come back later. Leaving his mother with his other sisters he hurried quickly through the hospital to reception to find Esteban stood there, his disguise as Noah gone, panic evident in his expression.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. The last time he had seen Esteban had not been a good moment for either of them and Eric could not deny it annoyed him that it was Ryan's father and not Ryan that was there.

"Ryan has gone." Esteban all but shouted, "He's gone after the serial killer." He added a little quieter.

Eric steered him away from the desk towards the doors so that their conversation would be a little more private.

"What do you mean?"

"Calleigh found out one of the places where he may have kept your mother from trace under her nails, Ryan has gone to find him to rid Miami of him." Esteban explained quietly but quickly.

"I don't understand why that's a bad thing." Eric said.

"I never told Ryan this because until now he had never needed to know. He was safe with me and his mother and had never had many dealings with this world, or other immortals." Esteban sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Eric was beginning to feel a knot of fear for Ryan join the one for his mother in his stomach from Esteban's words and actions.

"Never told him what?" He asked cautiously, unsure if wanted to know the answer.

"We are immortal, but in that sense it means that any man cannot kill us, no natural disaster or man-made weapon can kill us and we do not die of old age." Esteban began. Eric knew this, or had guessed it from the snippets Ryan had told him, but he had a feeling Esteban was about to admit something that was not good.  
"When the first of us came into being we were made aware of the one weakness that we did have." Esteban continued.

Eric gulped and fear shot through him again.

"What weakness?"

"Others like ourselves. The stronger we grow the more likely we are to become truly immortal. But those of us that are young, that are weak, like Ryan, can be killed by other immortals. The immortal that we are hunting is strong, almost as strong as me, because he is extremely old and immersed in the old ways and the methods that can kill an immortal. It is unlikely that he brought any of the provisions he needed to kill an immortal, it is very complicated, but many immortals carry the needed things with them just in case they come across a rogue immortal that needs to be dealt with. We do not want humanity to find out about us, that was why I did not want Ryan to grow too close to you." Esteban explained. "If we do not find Ryan soon then…then he-."

"What?" Eric demanded but he knew the answer and dreaded to hear the words come from Esteban's mouth.

"He will be dead." Esteban whispered.


End file.
